Persona RWBY: Mid-Summer Chronicles
by kalakauai
Summary: As the rest of the Summer days rolls by Beacon Academy, The Headmaster decides to send students off on a field trip, to the Kingdom of Japan. What the students were not expecting were a trial of events occurring across the Kingdom. What will the student huntsmen-in-training do?
1. Let the Games Begin

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

No Date **Velvet Room** Evening

 ***Aria of the Soul**

The guests visions came to focus as what they saw of the room was the interior was not there, just an open space with the Velevt Room attendants standing around Igor, who was sitting down on the opposite side of the guests before them.

"My... I never knew our guests had this potential in them, to draw their strengths all together." Igor chuckled. But more importantly, the fact that your journey is intertwining with other guests is a remarkable gift. But now is not this time for compliments. A new path has appeared before you, a new adventure within your journey. Hence, I believe it is best to establish a new contract is necessary for this endeavor." He explained as Theodore handed a paper to each other the guests as they looked down upon the contract.

"Similarities between characters or events to persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental. Only those who are willing to agree to the above have the privilege of partaking in this game, once the contract has been sealed," Theodore explained as it said on the contract.

"This land is not as it should be. It has developed distortions and can no longer be avoided, its 'ruin' cannot be ignored. Those who oppose fate and desire change... From time to time, Before Wild Cards, they were once known as tricksters." Margaret stated offering the guested with a pen.

The despite the first-person views the middle guests turned left and to the two guests writing their signatures on the contracts, thus the middle guest followed suit.

"Very well, then, you are all tricksters for this time being. Now is the time to rise against the abyss of distortions, let the game begin!" Elizabeth declared.

* * *

 **Let the Games Begin**

No Date confirmed **Unknown Casino** Evening

 ***Escape**

In the night sky of a riverbank, a helicopter flew towards a city with bright lights a the aircraft soon close in on a flashy casino. The building's alarm was ringing as the guests, even those playing around, running around in confusion.

Within the dark corners of the ceilings a black figure was hopping around on top of the lightings.

"Wait... what was that!?"

"There's someone here...!"

As the guests looked around with anxiety, a group of costumed people appeared along with an odd mascot character and scattered across the floor as they were searching for someone.

Yet as they searched the ground floor, another figure, but in red, hopped over the lighting. The person which was a girl was in a red Gothic attire that had red roses on her dress along with a red hood covering her head with a Gothic mask covering her eyes. "Stop right there, Joker!" The female exclaimed pointed a red-colored rifle at the black figure on another lighting fixture. The figure, holding a briefcase, named Joker turned around to reveal himself as he wore a black trench coat with a gray collared shirt, black trousers, dark brown Cuban heeled boots, and a pair of red gloves. He also wore a mask is a white bird-shaped mask with a black design around the eyes. They way he looked down at the girl, show a strong air of confidence in himself, if it wasn't arrogance.

"Hey! He's up there!" Said one of the costumed person from below alerted.

"We see him! Move in immediately!" Said another costumed person directed as the costumed group moved through the rough crowd.

Joker smirked as he then attempted to escape. "Hey! Stop!" The masked girl demanded, as he left. She grunted and continued her pursuit.

* * *

 ***Life Will Change**

Joker was making his escape while the Masked girl was behind him. "This is Rouge! He's heading in that direction!" The masked girl, known as Rouge, stated.

" _I see him!"_ A girl's voice confirmed. _"Raiden and Maestro are heading in position now. Keep chasing him down!"_

 _"Ugh, I can't believe he would such a thing! He deceived us!"_ Another girl's voice exclaimed in irritation on the communications.

 _"My group will hold off the guards below, get going!"_ A male's voice exclaimed.

As Rouge hopped onto on another fixture, a mysterious transmission faded in and out on their transmissions. _"...suspects... not confirmed... hold your... -sitions..."_ It said

 _"Wait... what was that?"_ A girl's voice wondered.

 _"Don't worry about us. Just concentrate on capturing Joker!"_ A calm girl's voice assured as Rouge continues her pursuit.

" _I have to say, showing himself above the crowd, beary bold...!"_ A boyish voice commented. _"Truly worthy as a rival!"_

 _"I doubt Bones or Yeager would be able to perform that stunt proficiently."_ A girl's voice chuckled.

 _"That's probably because they aren't limber enough."_ A boy's voice commented.

 _"They probably didn't make the effort."_ Said another girl's haughty comment.

 _"What?"_ A guy's voice whined.

 _"The hell's that supposed 'ta mean, Senpai!?"_ Another boy's voice exclaimed angrily.

As Joker was about make for a door nearby, the door immediately opened as a pair costumed appeared from it, a ninja garbed in black and duelist in pure white in description. "There he is!" The ninja exclaimed as Joker stepped back. He then took another route, towards a balcony on the other side of some hanging light fixtures.

As Rouge manages to grouped up with them, they pursued Joker as he sliced the ropes that hung the light fixtures as he jumped across. Rouge and the White duelist noticed the cuts and hold their position as the Ninja jumped on to the light fixture as it gave away, dropping the ninja towards the ground floor with the ninja groaning in pain..

"Ugh... Kaze fell! Rouge is continuing the chase." The duelist notified the other as she nodded to Rouge as she pointed her rifle back in order to propel her onto the balcony.

* * *

While Joker though he was in the clear, two individuals appeared above the stair case. "Raiden?! Maestro?!" Joker stated as he stopped in place.

"Joker!" A grey-haired samurai, known as Raiden, exclaimed as he drew his Katana. He had a black trench coat with a grey bodysuit undernath a white mask with horns on each side with a pair of long ropes hanging down to his legs.

"That's far enough!" A blue-haired fencer, known as Maestro, stated as he readied his unique-looking sword. He had a black opera mask and wore a blue music conductor suit with a white undershirt and a yellow bowtie.

As Joker stood there, he then face Rouge as she appears on the open side of the balcony as she readied her weapon, changing rifle into a scythe. "This is gonna be interesting." Joker smirked, as he took out a fancy knife out of his suit as he too engaged his pursues.

"Joker, it doesn't have to be this way!" Rouge exclaimed as she pointed her scythe's open barrel of her weapon at Joker.

"She's right. You're only gonna make things worst!" Raiden agrees with weapon at ready.

"You can at least return the treasure! If you take it out of this place, she won't be the same!" Maestro exclaimed.

"All the more reason to prevent our secret leaking out. You guys know this!" Joker retorted. "If you insist, then I'll have to force my hand, even on you guys! Sorry." He apologize as he took his combat stance.

The pursuers didn't say anything but took action. Rouge brought her scythe back and gripped her mask. "Lets get 'em, guys!" She commanded as a figure appeared behind her as it launches a strong gust of wind at Joker.

Raiden grips his mask and summons a figure behind him as well as it swung heavily at Joker who miraculously dodge the swing that chipped the ground.

Maestro did the same as a figure appeared as its harp rung with a fire erupted right under Joker as he avoided any damages.

"Heh, my turn!" Joker exclaimed as he immediately drew his gun in his other hand a sprayed bullets on Raiden who swung his his weapon away, but then staggered back. He then turned and saw Maestro rushing at him as they sung away with blades clashing. Eventually, Joker blindsided him and did a combo of knife swings followed by a shot from his gun, staggering him. He immediately notice Rouge coming in with a swing of her scythe as Joker jumper over her as he back away as he ripped his back to summon a figure behind him as it cast a spell of a dark pillar with a sinister face shot up which Rouge avoided, backing away from the attack.

Joker was doing even against three of them. He know that the odds won't do much for him. "Well... this isn't getting us anywhere!" Maestro huffed as he held his sword at Joker.

 _"What the...? Careful, enemies incoming!"_ A girl's voice alerted as several odd-looking security guards masks on appeared out of nowhere as they attempted to strike the fighters. They dodged the security guard's attack as Joker jumped onto one the guards and ripped off the mask off of him.

"Uh oh...!" Rouge stuttered, knowing something gonna happen.

Joker landed on a slot machine afterwards turning to his pursuers. "This is where we part ways. Laters!" He waved with cockiness as he jumped up to another balcony above them and disappeared.

"Joker!" Raiden exclaimed as he then focues his sight on the security guard in the process of turning into a creature followed by the other security guards doing the same. "Rouge, go after him, we'll deal with them!" He then turn to Rouge as she nodded affirmatively.

Rouge parted way by propelling herself up onto another balcony floor with an open door in front of her. She assumed Joker went through that and went after him.

* * *

Rouge entered a dark corridor filled with metal pipes in cages and vague posters everywhere. "Guys, Raiden and Maestro are stalling the guards, I'm still in pursuit of Joker!" Rouge updated.

 _"Affirmative. Joker definitely went through that way. Keep going!"_ The girl's voice responded.

 _"Man, that guy's persistent, isn't he?"_ A girls voice commented in an annoyed tone.

 _"Hmm... I can't see to find his group... did they already left the building?"_ The girl's voice mentioned.

 _"That's not good, if Joker manages to escape, we won't be able to chase him when he disappears again. You have to hurry, Rouge!"_ Another girl's voice exclaimed.

 _"Grr... we managed to beat the shit out of these guys but more keep coming!"_ A guy's voice growled.

"Ugh... No rest for the weary, huh...?" Rouge groaned as she continues to follow Joker's trail. She passes through many open doors that Joker left open.

When she entered a room with a large window on one end, she saw a guard running on the other side, making Rouge to stay concealed.

"Where'd they go!? Damn it!" The security guard grunted. "I can't confirm the intruder's location... huh? Hey you! Halt!" He spotted the odd-looking mascot down the hallway as it scurried away, with the guard in pursuit.

Rouge came out of cover as she sweat-dropped. "Poor Kuma..." She sighed, but just when she turn to another corner she saw a security guard at the end of the hallway. "Uh...!" She stuttered as she took cover.

"You saw some weird-looking thing? You sure?" The security guard questioned. "Right, right! On my way!" He replied as he ran through the corridor, passing Rouge in hiding. As she got out of cover she whispered a thank you to Kuma as she heard footsteps behind her, fading, as she noticed Joker running up the stairs, giving chase at the same time.

Rouge stealthily chased Joker as she hid from guards who were pursuing them both. "He's not alone! Find them kill them all!" Declared one of the security guards as they split up with Rouge hoping down from a high place as she continues the hunt. She followed him up some stairs as she heard multiple footsteps from behind. "Crap, are they after me!? Gotta make this quick! " Rouge panicked while hunting the thief.

 _"Rouge, he's heading towards the exit, you have to hurry!"_ the girl's voice exclaimed.

"Already on it!" Rouge respond while running up the stairs. At the end of the stairs she finally spots Joker at the and of a hallway to where the exit is. "Joker, stop playing around, this is a serious matter!" She exclaimed as she points her rifle at him. "Just drop the treasure, you don't need to steal it!"

Joker slowly turned around as he silently looked back at Rouge. It was only now she realized that he wasn't holding the treasure. Another second passed a the security guard appeared behind her with their guns pointed at them both. "There's no where to run!" A security guard exclaimed at they inched closer to Rouge. As the pursuer looked back, she turned her head to Joker as he jumped on to the railing and ran along it toward the other end.

"See ya!" Joker waved as he was about to jumped through the decorative glass.

"JOKER!" Rouge yelled she vaulted off the balcony, propelling herself into the air, and jumped out of the decorative glass following Joker as he jumped out elegantly.

 _"Damn... not bad for a show off."_ A girl's voice commented.

 _"Sis, that was reckless!"_ Another girl's voice scolded.

 _"Must come with the job, I guess..."_ A guy's voice agreed.

Joker manage to land safely and Rouge landed to the side of him as she her stand, pointing her rifle at the thief. "Joker, STOP! This is you're last chance!" She exclaimed, expressing little tolerance as Joker stood up silently.

They both were at a last stand still until several beams of light flashed before the costumed hunter and the thief as they turn to the direction of the lights. Voices of her allies rung out.

 _"Enemies, here!? These readings... no way!"_

 _"What's going on?"_

 _"What's happening!?"_

 _"Is that an ambush!?"_

 _"What the hell!?"_

 _"Rouge, what is it? Who are they!?"_

 _"Rouge!"_

Aside from her allies mixed voices, Rouge squinted her eyes to see who cast the bright lights. "Wait... are those... the Police!?" She exclaimed with surprise.

"Capture them!" Yelled a commanding office as multiple officers rushed in on them as Joker attempted to make his escape, Rouge was conflicted and confuse. "Wait! Wait, hold on a sec-" *Smack* Rouge's stuttering was cut short when one of the officer's butt his own rifle on her head, causing her to blackout. Next thing to see were blurry visions with her head on the ground. She barely saw Joker falling down from his attempted escape as she notices a Black Fang ambush on top of the railing as her vision faded.

Echoes filled her hearing within her head. "Hmph... Didn't expect a pair of kids. And that girl wielding a dangerous weapon? What the hell is remnant event coming to?" Rouge assumes that voice was a commanding officer's voice. Her vision gain a little focus as she saw Joker cuffed on the ground besides her. "You brats have your teammate to thank for this. You both have been sold out." He stated as her vision went dark again. "Suspects confirm. Cuff'em!" the sounds of cuffs ring were the last thing she heard.

* * *

No Date confirmed **Unknown Police Department** Evening

Icy cold water was splashed upon the young huntress as she flinched from the shock of the cold water. Even with that, her focus was still of as she was still dizzy, as she saw several shots on the ground before her. "I guess the drug was too strong." A person commented with a strong hint of disdain.

"Hu... Huh...?" The girl stuttered as she shivers, she looks up to see a pair of men in suits looking down. "Whouuu..." She tries to make her words out, but couldn't.

"No dozing off!" One of the men punched her in the cheek in order to wake her up from her daze. She eventually realize that she's cuffed onto chair. She looked around to notice that she was held inside a dark confinement room. "You still don't get it, huh, you little bitch!" Another roared as he kicked her down.

"Huh- Guh! Ugh..." She yelped in pain as she grits her chest from the pain.

"Come on, cooperate. Or what, you want another shot?" Said a guy, stomping on her head.

"Uhh... What's... going on...?" She groaned in pain.

"Don't play dumb, or what? You think you can use 'that' excuse for evidence?" He questioned while pulling on her hair.

"What... do you mean...?" She asked painfully.

"... That's fine... 'cause we have all the time we NEED!" The guy threw her head down and kicked her in the stomach once more, causing her to pass out.

"Hey, I don't think she'll wake up after that." The other guy chuckle as he told him.

As the guy clicked his tongue their radio started to act up. _"Hey, we got some VIP coming this way."_ said another guy on the radio.

"Who?" They asked.

 _"It's Gaius."_ He answered.

"Gaius? What!? Why's the leader of the Black Fang here?!" The man in the room questioned with attention.

 _"I've been trying to ask, but he knows about the rooms on your end."_ The man on the radio told them.

The men looked down on the girl as they were leaving the room. "We'll back for you." He threaten in sarcasm, thinking she would hear that.

Even though she couldn't see anything, she heard something, but couldn't remember due to her hazy memories. Eventually her mind shut down soon enough.

* * *

A Faunus light-brown skin with black hair down to the neck up, with purple eyes and feline ears walked down a hallway, wearing a black trench coat with dark crimson line patterned on and black suit underneath. He along with Alvin and Dojima followed suit as they approached some officers exiting a room. "Excuse me, sir, this area's off-"

"Do not fool me, I know one of my huntsmen is in that room. And you know why I'm here." Gaius told them.

"Sir, this individual is-" The police officer tried to explain but Gaius, hollered Dojima forward.

"That young lady's identification is on the reports, and she is the Huntress who took the job of hunting down the Phantom Thieves." Dojima told them. "You've arrested the wrong person."

The Policemen stuttered as they were trying to put up a fight of their own. "Listen here, detective, don't tell us how we're doing our-" their conversation was cut short Gaius held the police officer to the wall as the other tried to pull his gun out but Alvin beat him to the punch with his gun to his head. Despite Dojima's surprise.

Dojima: "H-Hey, Gaius-san!"

"I know! Criminal Procedure Code, Article 319. Forced confessions gained through torture and intimidation are inadmissible as evidence." Gaius assured. "So why is there sweat coming from these scum and the drugs coming from that room?"

"What!?" Dojima staggered with surprise as he frowned upon them. "Using drugs on minors is illegal!"

"Gh... That's because we were trying to find answers!" one of the police growled.

"Using force to find answers will not help our favor you know." Told a women's voice as the men face the hallway, reveal a women in a business suit. "Even Black Fang knows this, too.

"Niijima-san." Dojima recalled as Gaius released the policemen and Alvin sheathing his gun.

"We will be taking the young huntress into our custody. If you take a really good look at her, you would know her relatives will not take this lightly." The Black Fang leader stated.

"Are you threatening us!?" The Policemen questioned.

"You expect my boss a threatening-type? Come on, 'Black hair with red hues, silver eyes? Does that ring a bell?" Alvin asked as he pulled out a pair of pictures with the huntress and a man with a similar look.

It was that moment that they realized what who they were referring to. "What... the... Wait, then that kid related to him-!?"

"We will be taking the huntress into OUR custody." Gaius repeated. "Don't not obstruct us!" He demanded as the police officers stepping aside as the three men went into the room which held the young huntress inside.

"Dammit... so that brat's related to him...!? He muttered with regret as he review the huntress's data.

* * *

No Date confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Morning

The Huntress soon regained consciousness as sat up to notice the room she was in was different. It looked like a eastern bedroom as she then noticed her combat skirt hanging nearby and realized that she wore pajamas not her own.

She eventually dressed herself up with her combat outfit; a red sleeveless combat attire. She couldn't recall what happened to her as she still have memory-loss. Just then, she heard knocking on the door as she went to answer. When she opened up, she saw a tall Faunus before her. "Oh, you're up. Good..." He stuttered as he begins a conversation. "I know this is sudden but can you come with me?" He asked, as the girl nodded as she followed him.

"You must be hungry, after what happened." He told her, as she was still confuse.

Soon enough, they arrived in what looks like an interrogation room. The Faunus had one of his men to bring the huntress some food. She knew how to eat and recalls her table manners. Soon as she finishes her meal, the Faunus began talked some more. "I have to say, I didn't expect to see you like this." He commented as girl remained silent. "Anyways... My name is Gaius Erston, leader of the Black Fang. You've accepted a task from some individuals to hunt down the Phantom Theives, but the situation went south on your case." He introduced himself while explaining his story. "Do you remember anything?" He asked. The amnesiac huntress took a moment of thought but still had a hard time as shook her head. "What about your name?"

"Name? Name... Huh... Oh!" She soon recalls. "Ruby! Er... Ruby... Rose?"

"Hm... Very good. That's a first step." Gaius commented with relief. "At any rate, I'd hope to help you up to speed, to personally help you with recovering your memories, at your friends request."

"My... friends...? My friends..." Ruby pondered a she then developed a headache.

Gaius sighed as he made a call from his cell scroll. "Grab a cup of water and some pain-revilers." He asked as he hung up. "This will take a while, do you understand? Can you recall how this happened? How did this come to this?" He asked as he opened a folder with picture seemingly familiar to Ruby. "How did you know about 'that' world?" He continues as Ruby closes her eyes as begins her recollection...

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

As the Piano plays, buildings and other infrastructure pops up in the red skies as a silhouette hops over a building with Yu wondering what that was.

The camera shift to another location of the same structures as another silhouette drops down with Minato looking over the edge of the bridge nearby.

While a subway train runs, a different silhouette jumped on to the train with Ruby peering through the window.

The tempo of the piano began to include violins as the Phatom Thief takes mask off and down towards the middle of a city busy walkway with Yu, Minato, and Ruby looking up at the falling Phantom Thief explode into a giant deity with wings as gust blows debris all around to reveal the title "Persona RWBY"

Who am I?  
Am I not unique?  
May be I'm not here at all

Yu appeared as spun around as Minato appeared in his place and twist his body as he spun in the air as it blurred from blue to red as Ruby landed as she said towards the screen.

Look, the fakers  
Blinding us with lies  
The breakers of us all

Junpei jogging as he smiled with confidence followed by Yosuke grinding down a rail as Jaune jumped in the air as he then stumbled.

Oh, it's useless  
What could it mean that we're here?

Blake was swinging Gambol Shroud around her followed by Yukiko fan-dancing fluently followed by Ren ending in a graceful pose.

Can we make a difference  
If we don't break outa here?

Weiss then spun around like a ballerina followed by Pyrrha did a graceful diagonal spin in the air as she landed, with Chie back flipping with Yang zooming under as the screen zooms into Yang Bumblebee as it fade to black.

Wake up, get up, get out there  
Raise your voice against liars

The screen then zooms out to show as cat as the camera changes to see a deformed, toonish cat-like being with Zwei in pursuit.

Feed your anger like fire  
Why does nobody want change?

The screen zooms out to reveal multiple screens all showing the same images across the screens as a girl with glasses pulls back to her seat, revealing the rest of her group observing the monitors while she types on her keyboard, finally pressing the "Enter" Key as the screen zooms downward as it views the Velvet Room and its attendants with a new child-like attendant as it zooms toward Igor as he smiled followed by another room with a huge gear behind Ozpin and some other important individuals.

Just imagine you're out there  
Swatting lies in the making  
Can't move fast without breaking  
If you hold on life won't change

Yu and Minato slid upon the roadway like an ice rink as they bent back symmetrically followed by Ruby enjoying herself as the rest of her friends, one by one, appeared as if they were having fun on a slippery rink, ending with Nora tossing Teddie with glee as the Ursa was flung towards a billboard as the screen zoomed out with buildings of a city they're in.

* * *

 **A/N: Not bad for the starting chapter, right? Even the opening.**

 **This does have Persona 5 theme in it and I believe I have a way to back up the premonition. Anyways, I'm quite surprise that managed to start this on the holiday and hope to interest you viewers.**

 **As to this universe will go, some Person characters will be faunus. I got Yusuke and Futaba down as Faunus less there's is there anyone else... Also I'm gonna have Morgana as a cat for a reason unexplainable, hope you guys don't mind**.

 **At this time... perhaps I should make a "World of Remnant" thing that introduces the Kingdom of Japan...**

 **Happy Halloween, everyone! And here's some Omake skits just for you all!**

* * *

The Grimm Pumpkin

Some time in the future, in a time of year, Yang and Ruby brought over pumpkin. "I love this time of year." Yang stated as she placed the pumpkin onto a counter.

"Me Too, everything feels so festive!" Ruby agrees cheerfully as they left the area.

Oblivious to the Huntress, Torchwick and Adachi appeared behind the kitchen window. "Are we seriously still doing this contest? You know you suck at this contest Torchy.

"Will you stop calling me that!?" Torchwick exclaimed. "Besides, I'm not doing the contest anymore. I'm here to get revenge against those brats, once and for all!" He declared.

"And you sent a Geist to possess the pumpkin?" Adachi asked as they watched the Grimm possessing the object in question.

Just as the Geist possesses the pumpkin, Ruby instantly sliced the pumpkin in half, much to the villain's shock and horror.

A little later, as they watched the Geist being tortured, being cut into pieces and cooked into a pumpkin pie "Ah... the perfect pumpkin pie!" Ruby said as she took a whiff.

"I call first slice!" Yang exclaimed as she pulled out a knife with a very sinister look. As both Torchwick and Adachi flinched. They can only imagine what the Geist is seeing right now. At the hands of the unsuspecting huntresses as it screams in horror before is was stabbed.

The villains were shaking in their shoes as they watched the gruesome displayed before them, watching them eat a pie.

* * *

Happy BirthdayWeen

"The Investigation Team were walking down the hallway as Team RWBY's door slammed open and squished Teddie, much to the group's surprise. "It's October 31st!" Ruby exclaimed with excitement as the door slide away as Teddie literally fell flat onto the ground. "Do you guys know what today is?" She asked.

Chie decided to answer her. "Um... Hallow-"

"IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" Ruby exclaimed loudly.

"Huh? Your birthday?" Rise said with surprise.

"Yep..." Yang agrees unamusingly.

At Junes, Yosuke in a wolf costume was giving candy to his customers while Teddie, with a pumpkin on his head of his costume, was about to eat his share until Ruby approached them. "It's my birthday!" She reminded them as Yosuke gave a pained smile and Teddie gave his share as he whimpered.

Seta was handing out pieces of candy to students as they pass by her counter as she then notices her full bowl of candy was now empty. She then notice a note besides the bowl as she read "It's my birthday. R. Rose." on it. which Seta ripped the paper in half.

"Alright, is everyone ready for tonight's party?" Yu asked as everyone agreed in response... except for Ruby as she finished eating some candy.

"I mean, I was hoping you guys would buy mine for me because, you know... it's my birthday..." Ruby asked nicely, despite eating all of their candy, as they gave their ire expressions in response.

"Oh, I got a better idea." Yang told them as she appeared from behind Ruby as she then held her down from her arms. "Girls, I think it's time to treat her to some of curry!" She exclaimed.

"Wait, what!? NO-!" Ruby exclaimed as the scene cut to another time.

Everyone was enjoying their time at the party as Ruby in a trash can costume sat down as she looked limped, especially after what she ate combined with the candy she ate earlier.

"Nice costume, Ruby." Nora complimented in sarcasm.

"I didn't... *Urp* ... pick this..." Ruby groaned as she went back to looking dead.

* * *

 ***Aria of the Soul - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Escape - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Life Will Change - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there - Shoji Meguro, Lyn Inaizumi**


	2. Journey to the Far East

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

 **A/N: Just a note to include ahead; This will be base on my knowledge of Japan, anything will go.**

* * *

 **Journey to the Far East**

7/24 **Beacon Academy** Morning

"Wake up, you dolt!" Ruby woke up as Weiss bumped her hand on her leader's head. "Honestly, how do you even managed to sleep standing up?" She wondered.

"Oh, Weiss! Er... is the assembly over?" Ruby asked waking out of her half-asleep head.

"It's still going on." Blake pointed out as they see Ozpin giving his speak in regards to the Grimm attack last month.

"Man... how long is this gonna take anyways...?" Yang yawned.

"... Which is why we must, as we said before, remain vigilant, even when there is no classes within your summer break." Ozpin stated. "The Grimm attack that occurred last month was just one of many trials the we, Huntsmen, must overcome. However, one does not neglect our own respite, we are to have our own body to keep check of our own conditions. Therefore, I am considering to send my students on field trips to other Kingdoms in order to understand more of their customs." He stated as he checked his glasses. "The Vytal Festival is months away, so what better time and opportunity to share what you may, and might, learn and use the experience into action in the tournament? Vacuo, Atlas, Mistral, and Japan. They all have their own customs as to the student that hailed from them." He suggested. "Keep in mind that as you learn of their culture, you do well to show them proper respect. That is all." The Headmaster concluded as many screens popped up around the assembled students.

As the Beacon students were about the look up their choice, the teams saw the students of Yasogami and Gekkokan, all in their summer uniforms, gathered at one terminal screen as they swapped between what Kingdoms they wanted to visit, although they all we're a little on debate of which the want to go to. "Why Vacuo? Isn't it nothing but sand?" Yosuke questioned.

"It's because of the rumor of selective meats they have! I heard they're having it this month." Chie stated.

"I heard they have Huntsmen who're as powerful as they say. I wanna head there and fight'em!" Akihiko agreed, supporting Chie's suggestion.

"Aw... but I wanted to head to Mistral. That Kingdom has a lot of culture, if not a perfect scenic views of Anima." Rise whined.

"I heard they even brought clothes over from our Kingdom. I'd love to see them." Yukiko mentioned.

"That's your only reason?" Junpei questioned as he scratched his ear.

"That's only you with your lack of fashion sense, Junpei." Yukari gloated as Junpei made face behind her back.

"It seems we are all conflicted upon our destination." Aigis stated.

The rest of them sighed as the teams RWBY and JNPR approached them.

"You guys having a hard time picking a Kingdom?" Ruby asked.

"Heya, Ruby-senpai." Ken greeted. "Yeah, this is completely up in the air."

"Have you guys decided the Kingdom you wanted to go to?" Minato asked.

"Not yet. Although we were considering to stay around Beacon and train and all." Yang considered

"That's all? I mean, if you're doing it for the Festival, that's fine and all, but that's like... three months from now." Yosuke mentioned as he counted.

"A lot can happened in a day." Yu told them.

"I'm surprised... out of curiousity, has none of you ever consider visiting Atlas?" Weiss asked as the students said nothing and looked away with sweat-drops. "What?"

"Uh, Weissy-chan, Atlas and Japan aren't exactly on terms for many reasons, rememeber?" Yosuke mentioned.

Weiss paused a moment and recalls the reasons. "Oh... I suppose it was wrong to ask you guys that..."

"What terms?" Ruby asked out of curiosity.

"Something about Dust Technology... well, Dust in general. That was long time ago, right when we were toddlers." Yosuke explained.

"Hmm..." Ruby pondered what they wanted to do, but then Jaune stepped in with an idea.

"Well, hey, why not we head to Japan?" Jaune suggested with everyone facing him. "I mean, I've never been to you're guys' Kingdom before. Wouldn't it be the first for us?"

"Plus, it's an Independent Kingdom that wasn't on the maps once long before." Ren agreed.

"I agree, this would make a great change of pace." Pyrrha agreed as well.

"You guys wanna come to our Kingdom? I mean I don't think our Kingdom is that great or somethin'." Kanji humbly denied.

"Actually, I think going to Japan is a great idea. I mean I never been to any Kingdom before." Ruby approved as well. "Is it far?"

"Past Mistral, once out on the open sea and you'll be able to take an entire day to get there by an airship." Yosuke explained.

"Huh... So what's your kingdom like, anyways?" Ruby asked.

"Japan? If I have to guess, I'd say it's no different from Vale, in my comparison." Chie summarized.

"It's said the our kingdom's technology rivals Atlas in development and economical race." Naoto included.

Oh wow..." Ruby muttered with eagerness. "Is there more to your guy's kingdom?"

"It's also multi-cultured with housing many deities." Yu included.

"Deities?" The Beacon student mentioned.

The Japanese turned looked towards each other with stern expressions. "Hmm... that... part is a little hard to explain here... " Yukiko told them.

"Well... I guess we'll have to find out ourselves when we get there, right guys?" Yang assured as she looked at her friends as they all unanimously agreed. Ruby then turned to the screen and chose the Kingdom in mind.

At a far corner of the amphitheater, Seta looked over her shoulder to see her son and his friends at a terminal as she headed out with the rest of the teachers.

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

6/17 **Beacon Academy** Daytime

Last month, Seta seem curious of what she noticed. "... While we're here... is it about time we discuss the form that Kirijo-san took with him? You mentioned 'Field Trip'." Seta brought up.

Ozpin swung his chair back as he smirked. "Yes, after this Grimm attack, I was considering on allowing my students on an training excursion, a school trip of sorts." He suggested. "I've asked Mr. Kirijo to pass on some forms for allowance and allow my students to expand their curiosity, despite the current events going on in your kingdom."

"Ah... you must be talking about the elections for Prime Minister?" Seta recalled.

"Given the fact that you hailed from Japan and working as a teacher here, can I count on you as their tour guide of sorts?" Ozpin requested.

Seta nodded but asked a serious question. "Has my son picked a kingdom he wanted to go to?"

"Of course. In fact you're in luck." Ozpin told her as he pulled a list before Seta. She immediately skimmed the list as she spots her son's name as her squinted eyes opened wide.

"*Ahem* ... Okay, I will do my best to be their guide. Although, their can only be only a few selected schools that he and his friends can go and visit, and preparations is an A-must."

"Yes, that's part of the forms I gave to Kirijo." Ozpin assured.

"Then... is gonna happen, isn't it." Seta muttered with mixed expressions. "Very well, I'll make sure to tell them in class sometime soon." She reassured as she bowed and left the office.

"I still don't get why you're sending students away." Glynda wondered. "What you planned to do would only jeopardized the security of the relic."

"I know. But since Japan has been isolated long before the great war, despite our foreign friends knowing our situation, I cannot guarantee that our current number of allies will be able to hold against our enemies." Said Ozpin as he pondered the thought. "Also James is looking out for our Kingdom, so it should be fine."

"... You plan on bringing some of our foreign friends here?" Glynda guessed as Ozpin smiled, assuming her deductions were on the spot.

"More or less." Ozpin responses passively as Glynda shrugged and left. Afterwards, the headmaster received a call from Souji. "Ah, Soul, it's been a while." He greeted.

 _"You're gonna leave it at that, aren't you?"_ Souji groaned as the headmaster chuckled. _"Anyways, I've sent my audio documents to you. What I don't know is what you need it for."_ He mentioned.

"It's just that I wanted to know a little more about Japan and all." Ozpin told him with optimism.

 _"... Right..."_ Souji sighed in disbelief. _"And what's this about a field trip? You know my Kingdom's is on edge because of recent events going on, right? And near the time of elections."_

"What ever you are imagining, it's not anything like that, my friend. I'm only sending my students to learn some culture." Ozpin reassured.

 _"... Alright. I know you made a lot of risks and a lot more mistakes... But I'll trust you on this."_ Said Souji. _"I hear my son's been doing well so far, so I guess I'll leave it be."_

"That being said, you've been going there and back as of late. Is everything going well so far?" Ozpin wondered.

 _"... This is between us, right? It seems time moves faster there. I've been trying to discover how I can hold the thing up on a certain date."_ Souji told the Headmaster.

"Ha, you say I made more risks and mistakes." Ozpin chuckled.

 _"I blame you for growing on me."_ Souji retorted. _"Anyways, I trust that my son, my nieces will be fine?"_

"You have my word." Ozpin confirmed as the both hung up as Ozpin turned to his window.

* * *

7/30 **Beacon Academy** Early Morning

At the Academy docks, a number of Beacon students in their school uniform along with their luggage, were all excited to go on their trip to the Kingdoms of their choice.

"And so... we've been tasked to serve you all as your translators." Yu told the students heading to Japan.

"The language and currency are awfully different than what you guys have outside our Kingdom, a one-of-a-kind Kingdom." Yosuke followed. "For example, '[Do you know what I'm saying?]'"

The Beacon students looked to each other in confusion, failing to understand what he was saying. "He asked if you understood what he said." Weiss repeated in English.

"Oh!" They all gasped.

"Weiss, you understood what he just said?" Ruby wondered.

"Of course, the Schnee Dust Company needed to expand our business, even to foreign Kingdoms. How else did the CTT come to be?" Weiss questioned back.

"Right, got it..." Yang sighed in annoyance.

"Alright everyone listen up. Today we'll be heading to our Kingdom of Japan!" Seta declared as she did her roll call. "Now if everyone who's heading to our Kingdom, please board our airship as I will then tell you about my homeland!" She stated.

*Bark*

Zwei barked as he appeared out of Ruby's backpack as they all turned to her. "What, I can't just leave him here. Dad told us to take care of him."

"Oh... Very well, as long as you hold accountable for everything that Zwei-chan does, okay?" Seta told her as she nodded back. "Okay, let's go!

Once the students went on board, the airship took off and Seta began her lecture.

* * *

 **World of Remnant: Japan**

Once the Airship took off Ozpin watches the airship fly away as the Headmaster pressed a button as the an image appeared on screen on his desk as Souji's voice appeared.

"So... You want me to tell my tale of Japan? Well, I am payed to say, but... Ugh... I never thought I'd have to document this... wait... it's on!? Crap!" Souji stuttered as he began to tell his story.

"*Ahem* The Kingdom of Japan, the land of the rising sun... at first it wasn't on the map." He explained as the screen included another piece of paper on the right side of the screen, merging with the whole map. "I thought it was labeled as another part of Mistral, due their unique lifestyles. Yet unlike their neighbor who holds respects to their traditions, Japan has their respect for deities or their gods or, what they say in their language, their 'Kami' of the land."

"The humans who settled their, surprisingly have little quarrel with the Faunus residence who also shared the land." The screen flickered to view silhouettes of Humans and Faunus working together in mutual respect and then it view the creatures of Grimm disappearing one by one. "Although, the first thing that actually surprised me is the fact that the Grimm presence was at an all time low. I wasn't sure if it was due to some sort of natural barrier was the cause of the loss of the Grimm, but I'll get to that at another time."

"At the time, this boon allowed the resident to become productive and utilize their potential and the natural resources through ingenuity and innovation, making the Kingdom advance with new technology in the making. Even with making their own CCT. Heck, I hear they're planning on building on top of the water, the ocean floor. Imagine that..." He explained with the screen viewing buildings of modern technology. Heck, you'd be surprised how close their own houses are in some residential areas."

"At that point, their development allowed the Kingdom to prosper, mixing technology, traditions, and cultures. This may sound like a perfect Kingdom to live in but it does have it's own downside and I'm not just talking about their own language and relations between Humans and Faunus."

"Their Capital City is in Tokyo as its former Capital was in Kyoto. From what I've looked up, it looked like they moved around in the early periods, before even I was born. Anyways, the Tokyo Metropolis is one hell of a huge city and you could get lost... lest you couldn't understand what they're saying." He chuckled.

"Right now, I'm still wondering why there's that very low Grimm presence... This is also from my own perspective and it's subject to change. Anything can happen in one day after all." Souji stated as the video ends there.

* * *

7/30 **Unnamed** **Academy** After School

Within a principle's office, the Principle, who looked overweight and bald and wore a beige suit, white undershirt and red bow tie, was on a phone with someone. "H-Huh!? Y-You want me to sponsor for the Huntsmen on their field trip?!" the Principle exclaimed with a strong hint of joy.

 _"That's correct, Kobayakawa. Consider this your atonement for failing to expose the damn thieves."_ Told a guy on the phone.

"Y-Yes of course! Shujin Academy would be honored!" Kobayakawa stuttered. "I also have the list of students coming in! I must say, some of the students on the Cultural Exchange Program are on here, too-"

 _"No matter, see to it if we can use them to hunt them down. Do not disappoint us!"_ The guy on the phone ordered as he hung up.

The Principle as he gave a heavy sigh as he hung his phone as he then looks back at a report he received earlier. Just then, a young lady in uniform entered. "Makoto Niijima, care to explain?" He questioned as the Student Council President peaked onto the report she gave him earlier.

"I believe in what I wrote... 'The Phantom Thieves are just'." Makoto explained.

"Have you figured out who they are?" The principle asked, assuming she found out what she needed to do.

"No, I'm nowhere close. However, after considering all the facts, I concluded there are no errors in their acts or principles." She shook her head. "Thus, upon deeming them to be on the side of justice, I have decided to to end my investigation."

"What!? But that's impossible!" The Principle exclaimed.

"Impossible...? May I see the evidence you have that leads you to believe so?" Makoto egged him.

"Ngh... I was just speaking to the headmaster of an Academy about your letter of recommendation too..." Kobayakawa grunted.

"There will be no need for that. I intend on getting into an academy by my own merit." Makoto reassured confidently. "Is there anything else?"

The Principle gave a meaningful stare at the Student Council President as he placed a form before her. "... We have some Student Huntsmen that will be arriving in our kingdom and we've been selected to represent our school and our teachings. Can you send these copies to the faculty room?" He asked.

"Hmm... Of course...?" Makoto agreed as she took the forms as she left.

The Principle gave another sigh as he gave another call to someone. "Sir, it's me. I apologized for bothering you like this... About that..." He said.

 _"What is it now? Have you found something?"_ The voice asked in an annoyed tone.

"Y-Yes... I am making progress. However, I have stumbled upon some difficulties..." The Principle stuttered. "Still, why would someone as important as you be interested in a petty case like this...?"

 _"I thought I made it clear to investigate this matter and bring me results! Are you questioning me!?"_ The voice questioned angrily.

"N-No! That's not what I meant...!" Principle Kobayakawa denied. "I will investigate with all the resources available to me."

 _"Really now?"_ The voice doubt with no belief.

"Of course... Um... I should be able to let you know relatively soon. Trust me, I will bring you good news... Well then, thank you for your-" Yet the person on the other side of the line hung up on him as he began to panic subtlety. "Dammit... I hope those Huntsmen can get here sooner..." He whimpered.

* * *

7/30 **Overseas** Afternoon

Still flying over the ocean floor. The Huntsmen were all wondering what the Kingdom of Japan looks like... despite what Seta told them. "So... is there anything note worthy that we might wanna see?" Ruby asked.

Yu pondered what to say, but then a mocking laughter. "It's probably a back-washed kingdom, it wasn't even on maps!" Cardin laughed. He and the rest of his team were also joining them on the field trip. They even saw Sun and Neptune along with the ride, assuming that their rest of Team SSSN might have came along.

"The hell's that's suppose to mean!" Kanji questioned.

"Come on! You guys are all lovey-dovey with those animals. It's no surprise that you guys aren't even developed." Cardin mocked.

"Say that again, dipshit! I dare 'ya!" Kanji exclaimed as he was about to grab Cardin's collar. But as his teammates were about to intervene, Seta calmly held him back. "S-Sensei!"

"So are you saying that our kingdom is nothing but a savage and chaotic kingdom with no authority?" Seta assumed.

"Um... yeah...?" Cardin stuttered his answer.

A pause filled the area as the Natives of Japan gave a small laughter all around Team CRDL. "Wh-What the hell is funny?" He questioned with anxiety.

"Poor Cardin-kun, obviously oblivious." Rise giggled.

"Clearly he isn't as clear minded as I thought..." Naoto agreed.

"Cardinni is beary dumb!" Teddie bluntly stated as everyone turned to him with surprise.

"Dude, that's so blunt!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"What was that!?" Cardin growled as Seta stopped him.

"Unless you saw our Kingdom for yourself, you wouldn't be saying such garbage. It's actually the opposite of what you just said, Winchester-kun." Seta smiled but a strong intimidating aura made Cardin and his team to stagger away from the Teacher.

"Y-Yeah..." Cardin stuttered.

"Anyways, there's something I need to inform you all, right now there is only a limited areas note worthy to tour, so we can't exactly roam too freely, because of the elections are in a couple months." Seta informed.

"Limited areas." A student asked.

"Hai, The Elections for Prime Minister." Seta continued. "Once we've arrive to our hotel tonight, we will be heading to a nearby school, Shujin Academy.

"Wait, Shujin Academy?" Yosuke mentioned as he then turned to Yu. "Hey, isn't that the school we've been to?"

"You guys been to that school before?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, that was about... last month ago when we went on a mission without Chie and Yukiko." Yu recalled.

"... Now that I think about it, Chie-senpai, Yukiko-senpai, did... you tell your boss about this trip?" Naoto mentioned as the other friends had exclamation marks upon them.

"Yeah, we told them about our field trip. We told them we'd be back before the Vytal Festival." Chie assured.

"And we've recommended them to spend so time in our kingdom, with booking a reservation at our inn, too." Yukiko included.

"That's... reassuring..." Naoto sighed.

"You think they'll have something fun there?" Sun wondered.

"We have our pop culture that's another thing we could do." Rise asked.

"Rise, you said that you were an idol, right?" Jaune asked. "You think there would be any concerts to check out?"

"I haven't checked with my agency for a while now, ever since I left Japan. Maybe I can check with them..." Rise shook her head as she then pulled her cell scroll out. "There's quite a history about us idols, called the Golden Age of Idols of Japan.

"It's about beautiful idols singing and dancing with their self-expressions. It makes me feel in love with them!" Teddie stated.

"You're just another love-struck fan, Ted. Well, there's other stuff to look at, even art schools... oh yeah... did we mentioned that we have many schools in our Kingdom." Yosuke told them.

"Many schools? You guys aren't from Shujin?" Yang wondered.

"That's right. We came from Inaba, our school's Yasogami High." Chie mentioned.

If you're talkn' about schools, we came from Gekkoukan High!" Junpei included as Team MAYJ came around. "And we're from Tatsumi Port Island."

"You guys were talking about our kingdom, weren't you? We thought we'd share what we know." Minato waved as he and Yukari and Aigis followed.

"Our schools have a strict code dress code unlike the outside kingdoms. High school students always have to dress in their uniforms. No casual wears, jewelry, or dyed hair.

"Seriously? That's so strict!" Nora complained.

"Not to mention a saying about blonds being delinquents and something." Junpei muttered as he looked at Yang, Jaune, and Kanji.

"We have clubs that facilitate the students a wide range of extra-curricular activities that are usually done after classes." Aigis mentioned.

"Oh man... too much... information..." Ruby sighed.

"I suppose we will know once we arrive." Ren responded.

"At any case, the only schools that are available to sponsor our trip is Shujin Academy, Gekkoukan High, Yasogami High... and there's only a couple more free for us..." Seta noted. "I'll make the necessary arrangements..." She told then as she pulled up her cell scroll.

"Now that I think of it... You guys mentioned the appearance of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts in the capital. Is that right, Senpai?" Naoto recalled.

"Oh yeah, the ones who made Madarame confess his crime?" Yosuke recalled as he pulled out his cell scroll. "In fact they have their own page on the internet called the 'Phan-site'." He mentioned as he typed on his screen as he then show the page. A red screen with the Phantom Thieves logo and a poll "Are the Phantom Thieves just?" It said with a meter around 35% on the bottom of the screen with multiple surprise comments coming.

"Who are those Phantom Thieves anyways? Are they supposed to be famous?" Ruby asked.

Yu and Yosuke stuttered as they glanced at each other. "Uh... if I had to guess, they steal hearts some how? Like they made Madarame confess. If anything, they searched for the bad guys and steal their desires or something..." Yosuke guessed.

"That... doesn't make any sense." Weiss scoffed. "From what I believe, those guys are only blackmailing innocent individuals and only forcing them to confess. Nothing, but filthy petty thieves."

"At least they all aren't composed of Faunus..." Yosuke muttered assuming no one heard him.

"You said something?" Blake asked.

"Uh... nothing at all." Yosuke denied.

"Hey guys, is that Japan?" Nora pointed out. The Beacon students leaned over the airship to see where the Kingdom were, what they saw was a huge city with skyscrapers lighting up the dusk settling towards the night.

"Wait... THAT'S your kingdom!?" Cardin questioned.

"Surprised?" Seta chuckled as Team CRDL's mouths dropped.

"That's a lot of lights...!" Ruby exclaimed with awe.

* * *

7/30 **Japan** Evening

 ***Beneath the Mask**

As the airship lands, they passed through the terminal, as it all looks so highly modern unlike the kingdom of Vale.

"Wow... they definitely made their time to established this hi-tech stuff." Yang complimented.

They even pass through a checkpoint with a Faunus holding them back "[Hold on a moment!]" The Faunus guard hollered the students attention. "[Your weapons.]"

"Uh... what's this guys saying again?" Jaune asked.

"He asking for your weapons." Seta translated. "Now days, Huntsmen visiting our kingdom needs to have their weapons checked before entering through. Safety reasons after some incidents a while back... Anyways, weapons please! And Winchester-kun! You guys as well, less you want to stay here!" She included as Team CRDL staggered as they obeyed.

Once they handed over their weapons for inspection to the guard, a pair of black uniformed soldiers approached from nearby and also inspected their weapons. "Uh... who are those guys?"

"Black Fang soldiers." Seta answered. "Those pair are here to help with security along with inspecting Huntsmen weapons.

"What? The Black Fang working in airports? Without the need to worry about their Faunus traits." Blake questioned.

"Oh you'll find them just about everywhere in this Kingdom, should you count them along with any power of authority." Seta explained.

Soon enough, the guard and the soldiers returned their weapons back. "[Enjoy your stay.]" One of the soldier said as the other soldier said it in English as they bowed.

"Okay... So what next, Narukami-sensei?" Junpei asked.

"There's a bus that will take us to a train station and we'll take in to our hotel. The Black Fang has invested a lot on this field trip experience." Seta replied delightfully, but then stared back at the Vale students "Remember children, this isn't Vale, so try NOT to do something stupid." She she snapped back, much to all the students giving sweat-drops.

"Your mom's something, Yu." Yosuke sighed as Yu sighed as well.

They took a bus with them as the students gazed out of the windows to see the view of the city they're in.

"So this is Tokyo... It's so... stuffed." Sun mentioned.

"We live on an island, so we don't exactly have the luxury for the space." Naoto explained.

"And you guys mentioned about building artificial landmass off the island?" Ren recalled.

"It's a huge island, we tend to think big." Rise boasted.

"Yet you say it's a 'Huge' island..." Yang chuckled.

Soon as they arrive at a train station, they were baffled by how the ticket system works.

"Oh sweet, mine's still works!" Yosuke exclaimed as he slide his wallet on a gate panel, opening the door as he passed through.

"Uh... Professor, how do we get through this gate?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, you all have to get a ticket at the counter. I'll show you." Seta pointed to a nearby kiosk. She showed them how the system work, despite how perplex it was.

After their teacher showed them how the train tickets worked, they eventually waited for a certain train to catch. "... After that, the next train should be ours soon." Seta told them.

"So we're just waiting afterwards..." Chie sighed.

"Well, hey, there's a vending machine, anyone want a drink?" Seta asked as she went to pick the drinks.

"Oh, she's offering? That so nice of her." Pyrrha noticed.

"I guess she only sweet toward's her son's friends." Jaune assumed.

Although they waited, they hear a grunt nearby. "[... Damn it!]" The voice grunted as Yu notice someone walking by.

Yu: "Huh...?"

"[Hmm...? Oh you're... You must be Narukami-san? And Shirogane-san?]" The person approached them.

Naoto noticed a familiar face. "[You're... Goro Akechi?]" She said.

The person before the group saw Goro Akechi, a Faunus with a canine tail, wearing a collared shirt with a tie. "[It's fancy meeting you guys again, but what brings you back from the Kingdom of Vale? Has the Cultural Exchange program ended]?" He asked.

"[No, we're actually here to spend our vacation here. We're translating for our friends from Vale.]" Yu stated.

"[Oh, that's fantastic! Though, I must say, you all have came at a odd time.]" Akechi mentioned.

"[An odd time? Is it about the elections?]" Naoto asked.

"[It not just that, you heard about the Phantom Thieves, right?]" Akechi mentioned. "[They've been on the rise right after their next victim.]"

"[Next victim...?]" Yosuke muttered.

Their conversation left Ruby and the other foreign Huntsmen confused as they were speaking in Japanese. "Um... Yu, you guys know this person?" She asked.

"Oh right, you guy never met each other." Yosuke recalled. "This is Goro Akechi, he's another detective from our kingdom, the next 'Ace Detective.'"

"It's nice to meet you all. As he says, I am Goro Akechi" Akechi greeted as he bowed to them, speakng in English. "It's nice to meet some new faces.

"Oh! Well... uh, nice to meet you too! Mr. Akechi! I'm Ruby Rose. Huntress from Beacon Academy." Ruby greeted.

"Yang Xiao Long. Ruby's older sister." Yang introduced herself.

"I am Weiss Schnee. It'sa pleasure to meet a friend of Narukami's." Weiss followed with a nod.

"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna." Blake followed with a bow.

"Oh please, you can call me Akechi, if you want. Still, Beacon Academy?" Akechi wondered as he turned to Ruby. "I thought they allow students around sixteen... or do you just look young?"

"You think? I'm 15 after all." Ruby recalls as she blushes.

"Yeah, my little sister is the bee's knees!" Yang responded cheerfully. "She that good, she's was able to skip a couple years in order enroll!"

"Remarkable. So that would make you a prodigy?" Akechi assumed.

"Hehehehe... yeah." Ruby giggled with glee.

"Prodigy... Right." Weiss scoffed with complete doubt. Ruby's friends doubt it as well.

"Well anyways, I welcome you to our kingdom of Japan." Akechi bowed as they notice a train coming in. "I believe that this is our train?" He mentioned.

"Everyone! This is our train, let's go!" Seta beckoned the students as they and Akechi followed.

* * *

While on the train, most of the students were listening to Akechi to what he suggests to visit. They also heard news going on as well seeing a big person in a fashionable suit and jewelery being accompanied by a couple policemen. "Hey, uh... what going on?" Ruby asked.

"The news said that Kaneshiro, a Yakuza, has turned himself in." Naoto translated.

"Yakuza? What's that? Something to eat?" Nora wondered.

"Oh, not at all. It's actually referred to Mafia in English." Akechi answered as he frowns at the screen. "It seems Junya Kaneshiro had his heart change because of those Phantom Thieves."

"The Phantom Thieves? They're the one who changed that Madarame guy's heart, right?" Yukiko wondered.

"That's right." Akechi agreed. "They claimed that they're justice while they stay hidden. Nothing but pure blackmail." He grunted.

"I agree. They should be locked up for their crimes." Weiss commented in agreement as some of the other students nodded.

Blake attempted to retort, but Yu held her back. "Blake-chan, please, let's not have that argument again." Yu begged, as Blake scoffed in response.

"Junya... Kaneshiro." Naoto muttered as she stares at the screen.

While they were idle chattering, Seta noticed something odd. "Is something the matter, Narukami-sensei?" Yukiko asked.

"That was supposed to be our stop." Seta mentioned as they passed their destination off.

"Wait, this isn't an express train, is it?" Yosuke asked frantically. Even the other passengers were questioning similar things as well.

"Uh, hey, aren't we moving a little more faster?" Jaune wondered. It appears that the train has started to pick up speed, followed by the train shaking violently, causing the passengers to panic.

"[Oh no...!]" Akechi muttered in horror. "[We need to get to the front, quickly]!

"What do you mean, what's happening!?" Yu asked.

"Ahh! What are you saying, what's going on!?" Ruby questioned.

"There were so many incidents as of late that cause the engineers of the train to fall into a psychotic breakdown." Akechi exclaimed. "If he lost it, he may be the one who's increasing the speed."

The train rocks a lot more. "Dammit, the train might derail if this keeps up!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Is the brakes in the front?" Blake asked.

"Yes, but we must hurry!" Akechi exclaimed.

"[Everyone, hold to something]!" Yu exclaimed to the rest of the passengers as they did as they told, holding on to each other and to their seats while the huntsmen rushed to the front of the train in an attempt to stop the train from derailing and crashing.

The shaking train may have prevented the huntsmen as it made some passenger fall on the ground even big parcels that were on top of shelves nearby almost fell on the passengers as the huntsmen caught them from falling on top of them.

From passing through the cars of the train, they made it all the way to the front of the trains cars as they found the door was locked.

"[Hey! What's going on]!?" A passenger as as he bang to door.

"The door's lock. Yang!" Ruby turned to her sister as she literally pulled the door open, much to the other passenger's surprise.

Once Team RWBY entered the pilot car, they see the back of the engineer, holding the lever, the speed of the train. "Hey, what the hell's going on!?" Yang demanded her question, but when she face the engineer before her, they see a man drooling black liquid from his mouth.

"Augh, what is this!?" Weiss questioned. The engineer was acting a zombie.

"What's going on? Is that guy okay?" Jaune questioned as he followed from outside the room.

Yang grunted as she tossed the ill-looking engineer out of the car and with Seta catching him.

"So how do stop this train?! And... which button should we press!?" Ruby panicked as she rushes towards towards the console. She couldn't understand the language on the buttons.

Naoto came in scanned the area. "Follow my lead." Naoto suggested as they did as they were told. Naoto directed the Team as they were told to press certain button and pull some levers.

Soon enough, the train was starting to slow down, eventually stopping near the next station.

"Okay... that was close..." Yang staggered as she and her Team stepped out of the room. "Hey, Professor! the train we got the train to stop."

"Good work." Seta congratulated although she had a stern expression while she and Akechi was tending to the ill-looking engineer. "Akechi-kun, is he...?"

"... It's unfortunate... but he's gone..." Akechi said as he contemplated, much to the surrounding individual's silence.

Just then, the doors of the train opened and they saw Black Fang soldiers and security guards outside. "[Hey, is everyone okay]!?" one of them shouted.

* * *

Soon afterwards, the students were all at the nearby station with the Teacher explaining their case. Even several people on the train bow to Yang saying their thanks to her, assuming she herself stopped the train. "Uh... right good to hear...?" Yang nodded a she reluctantly bowed back.

"Glad to see you guys are doing well." Said a voice. The group turned to where the voice came from and it appears that it was Alvin.

"Alvin-san?! We didn't see you there, how did you get here?" Yu asked.

"What, after the Grimm attack on Vale?" Alvin recalls as he frowned, leaving Yu to wonder what that expression is for.

"Ah, Alvin-kun, you heard about this little incident, have you?" Seta approached Alvin as he staggered with surprise.

"Whoa, Mrs. Narukami!" Alvin stuttered as he regain his composure. "Er, yeah, when we had to rush all the way here. Worst having to running on foot." He sighed as he pointed to his men as he then noticed Akechi. "Hey... you're..."

"I believe everyone on the train is all accounted for. And we can say our thanks to these young women for stopping the train themselves." Akechi stated as he pointed to Team RWBY. "Their quick thinking made it possible."

"Still, it looks like the investigation gonna take a while, Alvin-kun, can you call for a bus?" Seta requested.

"Already have, it should be outside." Alvin stated as he pointed towards the exit.

"Alright everyone, we may have a little detour on our hands but we'll be arriving to our hotel soon enough!" Seta called out to the students as they followed her.

Elsewhere a boy, with wavy unkempt black hair and dark gray eyes, a school regulation polo shirt, albeit untucked and sans the suspenders and a bag watched the students walking away. And then a cat appeared out of the bag the boy was holding, meowing.

"You think it them?" The boy asks the cat as it meows again. "Wonder what brings him here..." He mutterers.

* * *

 **A/N: Stopping this here. Once again, beg my pardon for the late chapter. So many things were going on IRL, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and now the preparations for Christmas. But I'm definitely not dead.**

 **Still, I'm still reluctant on using Japan as a name for the Kingdom. Worst enough, I may have forgotten what I've seen in the country.**

 **Also, I've have been considering adding more content than Persona 5 has to offer, maybe Tokyo Mirage Sessions...? Or so...**

 **But anyways, second chapter. There... so... there's something I might've missed... anyways see you next time.**

 **Also, I've made Akechi as a dog faunus and I assure you that the P5 characters will make their appearance soon.**

 **Here's a pair of Omake skits.**

* * *

A Fugitive's Misinterpretation

During Jaune's stay in Japan, he came out of the convenient store with a snack in hand, until he realizes something. "Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something..." He wondered as he looked down to the candy bar and recalls. "Oh no! D-Did I pay for this candy bar!?" He exclaims as the female shopkeeper walked outside.

"[Ah, Excuse me, you forgot your wallet]!" The young-looking shopkeeper said as she beckons to him.

However, Jaune didn't understand what she said and assumed he was in trouble. "Oh no! I was afraid of this would happen one day. I've gone rogue!" Jaune panicked and bailed away.

"Eh!? [E-Excuse me]!" The Shopkeeper exclaimed with a baffled expression with Naoto, Sun, and Neptune watching.

* * *

At the hotel lobby, Jaune was hiding behind chairs in an attempt to sneak his way back to his hotel room. "Oh they're gonna throw a book at me, maybe two books! I have to stay in stealth mode...!" He exclaimed in a whisper until some of his friends, Teddie and Ruby, spots him.

"Hiya Jaune! H-Huh!?" Teddie wave to him as Jaune yelped and hid behind Teddie, much to his confusion.

"Watcha doing?" Ruby asked.

"I've gone rogue, you guys!" Jaune whispered as he peeked over the oversized Ursa.

"Okay. I don't know what that means!" Rub replied cheerfully.

"It means I'm a wanted man! One wrong move and it all came crashing down!" Jaune exclaimed in despair.

"Really!" Teddie followed up as he scooted aside to reveal Jaune. "... Wait, what are you talking about, again?"

"Hey, man. Didn't you hear us? Hold it!" Sun demanded with Neptune and Naoto followed.

"Sun-kun, calm down. Jaune you-" Naoto held back Sun as she tries to explain until Jaune cut her off.

"It's the fuzz, they tracked me down!" Jaune staggered as readies to bolt. "I have to go. Tell the world my story!" He requests as he makes a retreat with Naoto giving herself a face-palm.

"Okay, I will!" Ruby wave to Jaune.

"Uhh... what was the story again?" Teddie asks as Naoto and the Junior detectives sweat dropped.

* * *

At his hotel room, Jaune was packing up his bag he's taking and fillied it back up with his important belonging, even stuffing Zwei without looking. "My old life is over... I-I have to start a new life...! I know, I'll call myself... 'Felipe'!" He called himself as Ren and Kanji watched him from the side.

Kanji: "The hell...?

"Do I even want to know?" Ren asked as Jaune jumps and hides under his bed.

"I'm a fugitive, guys! Public enemy number on! A man without a face! My home is the night!" Jaune exclaimed as he glances left and right. "Also call me Felipe, that's my thing now."

Just then, someone was knocking on their door. "Hey, is Jaune in there?" Yosuke asked.

"You mean Felipe?" Ren replied.

"Felipe? What?" responded back.

"I'll never forget your help my friends, but you must forget me, I was never hear." Jaune requests as he handed over a rope with sheets of blankets tied together as he readies to jump out the window. "I now join the underworld!" Jaune declared as he jumped... along with the rope of sheets all together, slipping right out of their hands.

"Uh... were we supposed to somethin'... Oh Shit!" Kanji grunted as he and Ren out the window as they see Jaune face down and planted himself into the pavement, shocking nearby pedestrians.

The hotel room door opens as they see Naoto and Yosuke coming in. "Hey guys, have you seen Jaune? He forgot his wallet at the store." Yosuke asked with Naoto holding his wallet."

Kanji and Ren sweat-dropped with their jaws open from the whole confusing ordeal as they figured why Jaune was acting up.

* * *

J. D. flaws

A week back, at the Vale Police Department's interrogation room, Naoto was having a discussion with the Junior Detectives regarding their activities. "Now... let's talk about your guys' activities so far..." Naoto sighed as she looks at Sun and Neptune's reports. "First off... You guys cited a Huntsman for littering?

"He even went attempt to grab a weapon out of his pocket!" Neptune addressed as Naoto shook her head.

"Neptune-kun, you tossed his drink out of his hand and he was getting his library card for identification. I am a witness after all." She noted with Neptune staggered with surprise. Apparently she was there when it all went down. They both sweat-dropped.

Naoto continued as she flipped to the next page. "Next... we have a bill for the loans you borrowed and the expensive equipment was immediately stolen under your nose. What happened?"

"We were... trying to upgrade our equipment, seeing that there were no... perps to catch... yeah..." Neptune stuttered with Naoto looking unamused.

"It's your job as Junior Detectives to shadow actual Detectives, not to burn off the lien like that!" Naoto strictly lectured with the Junior Detectives feeling her passive hostilities while she flipped to the next page. "Now about that mock interrogation. It says that the perpetrator turned the tables on you two."

"About that... Neptune went all bad cop and then went wussy and became the perp himself." Sun point at him.

"Well that's because you had to her when I was in a bind." Neptune retorted.

"Hey, I'm not the one with dance classes, you know-" Sun retorted back as Naoto slammed her hand on the table, grabbing their attention.

"Focus, both of you!" Naoto exclaimed as she flipped to the next report, mentioning a hit and run. She remained silent and sighed as she knows about this case. She the Junior Detectives were giving a civilian a ride until they hit someone. "...You know what, I'm not going to even bother..." She sighed heavily as she closes the folder. Now that I've finished, it's about time that you and your team sat down for a lecture. The same lecture for every modeled Detectives need. And I hope you all remain focus on their lessons." She suggested as she walks out of the room. They both horrid the thought of the long lasting lessons they're about to undertake.

It appears that they have a long road ahead before they can even be at Naoto's level.

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there -** **Shoji Meguro, Lyn Inaizumi**

 ***Beneath the Mask -** **Shoji Meguro, Lyn Inaizumi**


	3. The Rebel Will

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **The Rebel Will**

No Date confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Morning

Back in the dark interrogation room Gaius was questioning Ruby of her recent memories. "It seems you've recovered a good portion of your memories. Very good." He said sternly as he flipped a paper over. "As you arrived at your hotel, you were heading out the next day to head to Shujin Academy." He continued as Ruby nodded as he then pulled out a photo that showed a team of Huntsmen with Gaius on it as well. "The Black Fang can ill-support the authorities with petty thieves, but with the methods they use to claim someone's life, some people couldn't allow us to simply ignore this. If anything, do you know why I was spared?" He asked as Ruby recalls.

"Hmm... I think... this started when we met Akira when we went to grabbing breakfast... I think... the place was called 'a blank'?" Ruby pondered as she crosses her arms as she began to recollect.

"You mean the Cafe Leblanc?" Gaius corrected.

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

7/31 **Japan** Early Morning

As the Beacon students ready themselves for the day, Ruby noticed an odd application of an eye with a red background on her scroll. "How did this..." Ruby muttered.

"What's up, sis?" Yang asked as she walks towards her as she places her gauntlets on to its bracelet mode.

"Take a look at this app, I don't remember putting this thing on." Ruby told her as she showed her scroll.

Weiss and Blake soon took a peek as well. "Perhaps you were fiddling with your scroll? It's a real blessing how you haven't broken it yet." Weiss remarked.

"What? I only dropped it several times and it still in great condition!" Ruby denied.

"That IS a blessing, a miracle otherwise." Blake agreed as they started heading out.

Ruby sighed and went on deleting the app on her scroll. "I'm pretty sure I didn't even butt dial it on." She shrugged as she followed her team out.

* * *

 ***Beneath the Mask**

"Today, we'll be heading to Shujin Academy after we have eaten breakfast nearby." Seta told the students as they walked through a tight residential district of Yongen-Jaya.

"Will it be a fancy diner somewhere than this place?" Yang beg to ask.

"No. The place I managed to find is inside Yongen-Jaya, a residential district." Seta simply put with Weiss sighing. They all walked through the tight street and alleyways until they reached a coffee shop. "I've called the manager of Cafe Leblanc earlier as he agreed to serve you his best curry he can make."

"Um... how is curry good for breakfast anyways, Mrs. Narukami?" Weiss questioned as Seta faced her as she walked backwards.

"Schnee-san, as a huntress, we may not be able to afford a balanced meal knowing it could be our last one. We may not afford to be picky." Seta told her as she face to where she's walking. "Besides, what better way to feed you curry to wake you up?"

"Ooh! With fire coming out of our mouths?" Nora assumes with everyone else sweat-dropping.

"Wait, did you say Leblanc?" Yosuke mentioned after he yawned looking at the sign.

"Oh yeah, Sakura-san does make the best curry." Yu pointed out.

"Compared the girls' curry..." Yosuke muttered.

"You both have been here before?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, last month, when we were on a mission." Yosuke recalled. "Makes you wonder how's he doing."

"It has been a while." Yu agreed.

"Sensei has made a friend here?" Teddie wondered.

"His name is Akira, he actually lives here in the attic." Yosuke mentioned, as they entered the coffee shop.

* * *

7/31 **Cafe Leblanc** Early Morning

The students all gathered into the coffee shop as they see a middle age man on a far end of the counter reading a newspaper. He has a slicked-back dark hair with a receding hairline, gray eyes, a chinstrap beard with a goatee that flares out, and wears glasses and wore a black apron with a white pinstripe design on it and has his pants legs folded up to mid calf.

"[Sojiro-san! It was nice of you to expect us.]" Seta greeted.

The man turned his head to Seta. "[Pretty much, Narukami-san.]" He chuckled as he place his newspaper down and stood up. "*Ahem* I am Sojiro Sakura. Welcome to my shop, students. Grab a seat and we'll grab the plates for you." He bowed to them headed to the kitchen with someone else watching the stove. "[Oi, hold up, watch the seasoning, Akira!]" He stated.

"[Right.]" He simply complied.

"This good sir, here, has volunteered to serve us for the time being, make sure you all show him your thanks during your stay." Seta told them.

Soon after the students took their seats and looked around. "I think I can get use to this atmosphere. It seems... retro." Ruby said.

"Yeah, it feels familiar, like those casual restaurants back home." Yang agreed.

"Regretfully, it fails in comparison to the restaurants I've been to." Weiss commented.

"Which I doubt anyone else cares." Yosuke retorted as Weiss scoffed as she sipped her coffee.

"The coffee and tea is very good." Ren agreed.

While the students were all complementing the coffee shop, Sojiro brought out the huge pot of curry. "Alright, grab your plate, and make sure everyone gets their share." He called out. Soon enough the person in the back came out, revealing him to be Akira, bringing out the rice pot and plates for them.

And so, they all managed to grab their piece of the curry. Turns out to be very good. "Wow... this tastes really good...!" Jaune commented.

"Indeed. A lot better than what Chie and the others made." Ren agreed ass they recalled the last nightmarish curry they had. The three were disappointed about that comment.

"How many times do we have to apologize...!?" Chie groaned.

They all gave their laughs as the frizzy-black-haired guy know as Akira made himself a plate after. "So how the life of a huntsman so far, Senpai?" Akira asked as he sat on a nearby open spot at their table.

"Meh, aside from fighting Grimm, schools the same like ours back home." Yosuke told him.

"You guys haven't told about your friend. Akira, was it?" Pyrrha wondered.

"I'm Akira Kurusu. A second-year at Shujin Academy." Akira introduced himself. "Now that I think of it, you guys are gonna have the school to yourselves.

"Because of summer vacation, yeah?" Kanji guessed.

"Sweet, looks like we all have summer vacation!" Sun agreed as he fistbump Neptune.

"Correction!" Seta interrupted as the students turned to her. "We are heading to Shujin Academy to learn about the Kingdom's culture. lectures and reading are all we're likely gonna do!" She pointed out with some of the students groaning.

"Hmm... Akira, why don't you show them to Shujin, I'll wash up." Sojiro asked as Akira agreed and went back to his room. Sojiro went and turned to the students. "So... you kids are huntsmen, right?" He wondered.

"That's right...?" Ruby answered.

"Ah, I see." Sojiro humbly look back to where Akira went. "Well, don't let me keep you. Akira should be able to guide you to where Shujin is." He said as he brought back the dishes to the kitchen.

"Alright, one you're all done, we will heading out to the train station nearby." Seta stated, making the students unsure.

"It's not gonna try to derail again, will it?" Jaune asked.

"Of course not... I hope." Seta gave a pause as she gave a cute look which left the students unfazed. "... Off we go!" She marched out with the student giving sweat-drops.

"Aren't we going?" Akira asked as he came down from the attic as he dons a summer uniform, along with his school bag he's carrying.

On the train again, the students were a little uneasy after their previous train ride, but still took the ride to the Academy. "... And that's how I get to school. School passes allows me to take the train without the fee." Akira finished.

"Seriously? We never had any transport fee in Vale... I think..." Ruby wondered.

"I guess the strictness extends to everything, huh...?" Jaune assumed.

While they were about to ask more questions, Zwei came out of Ruby's backpack as he yipped, much to the students surprise. "Zwei!?"

Ruby began to stutter until a cat, with blue eyes and a white muzzle, and a yellow collar, popped out of Akira's bag, hissing at the corgi. "W-Whoa, Mona!" Akira staggered as they both tried to calm their pets down.

"Oh, did Zwei-chan smell a cat?" Yukiko guessed.

"More importantly, why are you bringing Zwei to school? And why are you bring your pet cat?" Weiss questioned them.

"What do you mean? I can't just leave him back at the hotel, who knows what kind of mess he'll make?" Ruby explained.

"... It's because he can fit in my school bag." Akira simply answered as his cat dived back into the bag. "His name is Morgana. I... found him on the way home." He told them as Morgana meowed. "I may actually stay on good behavior if I can take care of a pet."

"Take care of?" Pyrrha wondered.

"Still, you sure it's a good idea to bring them to school? Pretty sure pets aren't allowed." Yosuke mentioned.

Morgana: *Meow*

"He said there's no problem he sneak around stay low when I'm done." Akira state, much to their surprise.

"Huh? You can understand him!?" Teddie asked with surprise as Morgana meowed again.

"I did took him in a while back, so I figured I'd know what he might say." Akira stated. "He's quite the alley cat."

"Still, what are we gonna do about Zwei-chan?. Leave in the her backpack?" Blake assumed.

The overhead speaker notified their destination in Japanese as they relayed it in English to the Beacon students. Shujin Academy awaits. "I guess that'll be your option." Akira answered.

* * *

7/31 **Shujin Academy** Morning

The Beacon students followed Akira as Morgana jumped out the back as he roamed into an alley on his own, as Akira continues to walk towards the school gate. "We're here." He told them as they gaze upon the front of the school's building.

"Wow... so blocky..." Nora commented.

"For a school like this, it's impressive to fit a campus in a middle of a city." Neptune followed.

"But it fails in comparison with Atlas Academy." Weiss denied.

"And what about Beacon?" Yosuke retorted as they both glared at each other.

"Alright children, we are to head into the gymnasium. Kurusu-kun, can you show them to the gym? I have to speak with the principle." Seta requested.

"Huh? Er... okay...?" Akira reluctantly agree as Seta went on ahead. When he recalled the gym he soon realizes something. "Oh right, there was an announcement!" He recalls as several Shujin Students passed by.

"Was it about us?" Yu guessed.

"I think so." Akria agreed. "Follow me."

Just as the students proceeded inside the school, Yang noticed Rise and Naoto were missing. "Hmm? Hey, Kanji, weren't Naoto and Rise with us?" She asked.

"Nah, their guys called them and they wanted to do somethin' with them." Kanji replied.

"Their guys?" Blake repeated.

"Rise-chan's an Idol, so her talent agency wanted to do some events with her and Naoto's an Detective. I'm guessing they wanted a report about her time outside the Kingdom, I think?" Yosuke followed up.

"No surprise there, they even had to leave earlier." Chie agreed.

"What? I didn't even noticed they left...!" Ruby realized.

"It's best to say that none of us did." Ren assumed.

They arrived at the gym as the rest of the student body gathered as well as they gossiped about the Huntsmen in the back.

"Thank you all for coming today, my students, as well as the Huntsman from Beacon Academy. I am Principle Kobayakawa." The Principle addressed. "I would like to know how much of an honor to welcome you all to my elite prep school of Shujin." While he was continuing with his speech, the Beacon Students couldn't help the fact that the Pirnciple was... big... by his own means and didn't exactly payed attention to his speech. "... And thus, True freedom lies within the constructs of society." He stated as he finished. "Now, I hope that what knowledge we can offer you will benefit your wisdom to further your career. Right now, our school is closed for the summer, so what better opportunity for this cultural exchange. I will have the Student Council President to show your selected classroom for your lectures." He stated as he passed the microphone to his Student Council President.

"Thank you, Principle. My name is Makoto Niijima, a third-year student, as he says, I am the Student Council President of Shujin Academy. It's an honor to meet you all" Makoto introduced herself formally.

"Niijima? That sounds familiar..." Sun mentioned.

"Probly' her younger sister to that prosecutor we saw in Vale?" Kanji guessed.

"Gotta say, she looks... pretty good." Neptune commented as he took a good look at her.

"This is the first time our school has invited another student body for an actual cultural exchange. Learning about others is to learn about oneself, the first step on self-improvement and for others around them. We will see to it that we do our best to accomplish that. Let's enjoy our time together, Thank you very much." Makoto addressed followed by a bow.

"Student Council President?" Ruby wondered.

"You could say they're like a high-ranking officer that help runs the school. A lot of schools in our Kingdom have them." Yu explained.

"Alright everyone, get into your groups with your classmates!" Seta addressed as did as they were told. The Shujin Students continued their gossiping about the Beacon Students as one of them approached them. "Erscus me." One of them asked in poor English. He had spiky blue-tinted black hair and a supposely "average" face. With a Shujin Academy's standard winter uniform with the shirt untucked, the suspenders off his shoulders, and without the blazer . He also wears white tennis shoes with green accents.

The Beacon Students couldn't understand what he said so Yu suggested he translate for him. "[Oh... thanks, anyways, are you guys really Huntsmen?]" he asked as Yu translated his question.

"Yep, I'm Ruby Rose. First-year student at Beacon Academy and Leader of Team RWBY." Ruby replied as the translator mediated back.

"[Wow... Huntsmen in the flesh... Oh also, I'm Yuuki Mishima, Second-year student here.]" Mishima introduce himself. "[If I can ask, were you guys the ones who help stop a train accident the other day?]" He asked.

"Uh... yeah?" Ruby replied as Mishima staggered with surprise.

"[No way...! You guys saved a lot of people from that accident. Safe to say that you have our thanks.]" Mishima told them. Soon enough, more of the Shujin students gathered before the Beacon Students as they were baffled at the curious students.

"[Hey! Settle down, all of you!]" Makoto declared as the student president approached them herself. "You made a reputation when you guys stopped the runaway train. At any case, here's your guy's schedule for your week." She told them as she passed out their schedules. "I have some arrangements to take care of, so Mishima will guide you to your designated I'm looking forward to getting to know each other." She said as she left.

"[Our class is on the second floor, classroom 2-D. We we're gonna share some lectures depending on what you want hear. So what did you guys wanna know?]" Mishima asked as the Beacon students looks at the pamphlet.

"So we can select what we wanna know?" Weiss asked as Mishima nodded in response.

* * *

7/31 **Beacon Academy** Daytime

 **World of Remnant: Black Fang**

Back at Ozpin's office, he started up another audio document as the screen projects an image on screen on his desk once more as Souji's voice appeared.

"The Black Fang? Ah yeah, those guys are okay." He stated. "... I'm guessing you guys want more of an in-depth details of the guild, right? Then let me put it in words of m own."

The screen then displayed the map of Remnant. "The Black Fang weren't originally residence of the Kingdom of Japan, they were... in truth, actually a broken faction from the White Fang." Souji explained as the screen zooms into the center, viewing the White Fang symbol as shattered specs broke apart from the emblem.

The screen then show two opposing sides with the white and black silhouettes of faunus were on different sides and looked like they were arguing at each other. "There was clear in-fighting due to their ideals conflicting each other. The White Fang ideas of demanding respect from the humans still held for the White Fang, to use radical means to prove their ideals, their results even showed. The Black Fang on another hand, sought out a different path and a more peaceful and subtle solution. They would earn the human's respect by humanely means, working together, fighting along their human allies in order to improve the relations with the races, despite the low results." Souji explained.

"Things took for the worst for the Black Fang when tensions ran too high. At a certain time, the White Fang planning an attack on a human settlement and the Black Fang wouldn't have any of it and turned against their White Fang siblings." The screen showed the Fangs on different sides and a town symbol in the center. It then show the Black Fang attacking the White Fang as they placed themselves between the town and the White Fang.

"After that, their council had the last straw and banished the Black Fang from their ranks and they were sent to wander Remnant as mercenaries. Eventually a trip on the water and they arrived on Japan." The screen showed the Black Fang traveling around the world as they're then saw on Japan's shore with the natives greeting them.

"Their time in that Kingdom allowed them to grow, they also have the chance to provide the Kingdom with their combat capabilities with the Kingdom's samurai against their common enemy. Eventually they were given recognition for their service and became one of Japan's military guild, with allowing humans to join their ranks being the first of their acts." The screen showed the Black Fang and the local warriors pointing their weapons at the creatures of Grimm and the screen showed the Black Fang bowing to the King of Japan and other silhouettes being people, praising the Black Fang with human-looking silhouettes behind their guild leader. Eventually, they became a guild hub for Huntsmen, foreign and native.

"... You asking how I know this much? Well- um... L-Let's just say that I know a friend who's part of the guild. Besides, their little story of the Guild's background is common knowledge that the people, you'd be surprised that it's been a while ever since." Souji stuttered as the screen faded back to the map of Japan. "Every hardship they been through, their code of honor remains intact. 'One does not demand respect; it's earned', one hell of an act of defiance against the White Fang. You hear that so often, you eventually earn respect yourself." He chuckled as the video ends fading to black.

* * *

7/31 **Shujin Academy** After School

The Principle invited Seta into the Principle's Office as he wanted to discuss something to her. "You know, the way you asked me to your office, it might've been asking me to do something dirty for you, Kobaya-san" Seta chuckled daringly.

"I assure you it is nothing of that sorts!" Kobayakawa stuttered as he sweat-dropped. I actually was hoping to ask for your time and assistance."

"Oh?" Seta smile went down as she showed a frowning expression. "Are you... asking me..." Seta sternly continued. "... Out on a date!?" She gasped with disgust as the Principle's eye widen by the bombdrop. "Goodness, I'm married for the love of-"

"What!? N-No! NO! That's is not what I'm talking about! Why would I do that to one of the saviors of Japan! I'm not exaggerating!" The Principle staggered. "I'm actually here to ask for a job that befits Huntress and her students." He calmly told her.

"Oh, so that's you were talking about! And I thought I had to gut you for that joke." Seta laughed it off, as the Principle remained silent on the threat. "So what are you asking us to do? You know my student are only here for vacation." Seta explained.

"Yes... well... Have you about the incidents going on around Tokyo, especially one regarding the Phantom Thieves?" Kobayakawa mentioned.

"Yes... they're on the rise of late. Let me guess, you were going to ask for our help, is that right?" Seta guessed.

"If that is no trouble." The Principle begged. "If you can, you may use the foreign students to aid you. Of course, you will be compensated for-"

Seta slammed her hand of the Principle's desk much to Kobayakawa's frighten surprise. "So you are saying that I can use my son and his friends for your little hunt for those petty thieves, is that right?" Seta assume irritatingly. "First off, you have quite the nerve to make a student do your bidding, especially foreign students! Second, we all know that the Black Fang has little time for them, so why haven't you ask help from the police?"

Principle Kobayakawa stuttered his words as he tries to put his foot down. "N-Now see here! I'm trying to help my students! Those Phantom Theives are causing a uproar in my school and the student body are being influenced by them, those no good ruffians!" He explained.

"So you'd send in foreign young huntsmen to clean up a mess that is mainly civil to our Kingdom. We don't even know or have any proof of how they appeared. You're asking me this, but do you have anything to go on?" Seta questioned.

"Ngh... well..." Principle Kobayakawa.

"... You're being quite." Seta noted with her eyes open with her terrifying glare at him. "If you know something you will need to tell me." She coldly told him as he sweat bullets. "Or is this about the confession our disbarred Huntsman you took in?"

The principle jerked his head at the Huntress. "H-How did you-"

* * *

"That lecture was too long...!" Nora groaned. The Beacon Students, along with a couple Shujin students, Akira and Mishima, were all taking a rest in the school's courtyard.

"At least we learned a thing or two." Ren replied.

"The Black Fang... I thought they were just another group of thugs, but..." Weiss commented.

Team RWBY turned to her teammate Blake. "Everything Sensei Kawakami explained... I don't think she's wrong. Actually, everything she said about the Black Fang, I think I know a relative but..." Blake mentioned.

"Wait, you know a relative?! In the Black Fang!?" Weiss exclaimed with surprise.

"That's just it. The guys in the White Fang really resented the Black Fang, pretty much every time someone mentions the Black Fang, they end up dissing them; make bad remarks about them, death threats, you name it." Blake told them.

"[So they're at odds with each other?]" Akira wondered.

"Yeah. Those White Fang guys mean business when we met. Frankly we've managed to dealt with them last month." Yang chuckled.

As they continued chatting a pair of student came up to them from the school. A delinquent-looking blonde and a stylish student with a hoodie under her uniform. "Yo, Akira! So this is where you were.]" The delinquent said.

"[Oh, are they the exchange students?]" The stylish girl asked.

"[Yes, these guys are from Beacon Academy. Outside Japan.]" Akira told them as he turned to the Beacon students. "[These two are my friends, Ann and Ryuji.]" He introduced his friends.

"[Oh cool!]" Ryuji exclaimed as he approached them. [The name's Ryuji Sakamoto. How's it going?]" He said with a handshake.

"Uh... Hi! Ruby Rose." Ruby replied as she shook hands.

"I'm Ann Takamaki." Ann introduced herself as well. "I hope we can get along."

"Wow... what a beauty..." Teddie muttered with awe.

"Oh, you can speak English?" Pyrrha wondered with surprise.

"Yeah, I use to live in Mistral at one point so I'd know some English..." Ann mentioned as she then took a good look at Pyrrha. "Wait... I saw you at one of the Regional Tournaments!" She exclaimed

"You were there?" Pyrrha realized.

"That's right. I'm a fan of yours truly." Ann commented. "If you guys are going to be around we could probably show you to some good restaurants in the city, if you want."

"I think we're free in the afternoon so-" Akira mentioned until they hear Morgana meowing nearby as they all see the cat outside the school gate.

"Is that... Morgana? He waited around all day?" Chie asked.

"[Right... hey, dude.]" Ryuji turned to Akira as he nodded in response.

"[Actually, there's something we needed to take care of, unfortunately.]" Akira told them.

"[Is it a school project]?" Yu asked with eye contact, with Akira assuming what he's going on about.

"[... Yeah.] Akira nodded as he turned to the Beacon students. "[I'm sure your Yasogami High friends can guide you where ever you go. See you guys later.]" He wave as he and his friends left.

"Huh... it must be a big group project if they had to leave the school..." Ruby wondered.

"They probably had to grab supplies, maybe?" Yosuke assumed.

"...? Narukami-san, Hanamura-san, are you certain that is what Morgana said?" Aigis recalled, much to their surprise.

"What the- Whoa! Aigis, you can understand cat now!?" Yosuke staggered.

"Cats and Dogs don't have a language, but speech is not the only way of communication." Aigis explained.

"She's full of surprises." Minato reassured with a thumbs up along with Junpei and Yukari nodding behind him as everyone else, that's not a Gekkoukan student, were surprised.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Mishima exclaimed.

"Do... you by any chance understand what Zwei was saying...?" Weiss asked.

"He asked; 'when is dinner?'" Aigis translated as they all sweat-dropped.

"Uh... I don't think we need to worry about them, please..." Yu begged as Yosuke nodded eagerly agreed.

While they waited for Seta from her meeting with the Principle, Alvin came up to the school gates as he find the Beacon students. "Hey Yu, is Seta around?" He asked as he walks up to them.

"Alvin-san? No, she still talking the Shujin Principle. Is something the matter?" Yu asked as he notices Alvin with a stern expression.

"I can't really say..." Alvin replied with a pained expression.

"It's about Gaius-kun, is it not?" Seta answered as she appeared out of the school building.

"Gaius-sensei? Did something happened?" Yu asked.

A moment of silence as Seta answered her son with a sad expression. "I'm afraid Gaius-kun has suffering from a Mental Shutdown."

"What!?" Yu exclaimed.

"A Mental Shutdown... The Black Fang leader!?" Yosuke exclaimed.

Everyone else were wondering who they were talking about. "Gaius? Black Fang?" Blake muttered.

"Wait, hold on, what about the Black Fang leader? Is he sick?" Chie asked.

"And a mental shutdown?" Yukiko recalls. "The body would be unable to move in such condition..."

"Okaa-san. Is Gaius-sensei..." Yu dreaded the thought.

"He's okay. He a real fighter with a strong will, Yu-kun. A symptom like that won't kill him so easily." Seta reassured with Yu giving a sigh of relief as Seta turns to Alvin. "Did you came with an update, you could've text me on our cell scroll

"I happened to be nearby, actually. Anyways, he's been transported back to his residence and resting. We also have a nurse monitoring his condition." Alvin reported.

"Thank goodness." Seta sighed.

"So... what are we gonna do today?" Nora asked.

"Hmm..." Seta pondered what to do next. "How about we visit the Black Fang guild?" She suggested much to the Beacon Students surprise with exclamation marks, excluding the students of Gekkoukan and Yasogami.

"What...?" Yang muttered.

"The Black Fang...!? Are you sure we're permitted to even enter?" Weiss questioned with baffled surprise.

"I assure, it's fine. It is a guild where many individuals could likely ask for jobs. The headquarters is also a central hub for employing Huntmen with the usual mission boards that your school provided you all." Seta explained, despite Weiss's reluctant relief. "Now then, we will be taking the train to Shibuya's commercial district." She told them as they followed.

* * *

7/31 **Shibuya, Tokyo** Afternoon

As they got off the train and headed out of the station, they see Rise on the "Sapphire" posters and even on commercials. "What the... Is Rise that popular!?" Weiss questioned in awestruck.

"Oh my god! Risette's making another album!?" Junpei exclaimed as her huntsmen fans rushed towards and gathered at a single poster.

"And the date, it's so far away..." Yosuke sighed heavily.

"It's looks like you have a rival Weiss." Yang smirked.

"Oh please! She has poor taste in fashion and it's only drawing a crowd with poor taste!" Weiss denied.

"Right, says a girl with a quality type of crowd over a quantity of people." Yosuke egged her.

"Sure enough, true words of a rival." Kanji sighed as Weiss scoffed.

"Well, if you put it in a idol category, Weissy-chan would be perfect in the cool-type idols." Yosuke mentions.

"Oh yeah. And Risette's perfect in the passion-type." Junpei pointed out as well. Weiss finds it annoying how they're comparing her to Rise like that.

They still went on about idols as they walked outside the station, they find themselves in the crowded streets.

"I never thought Shibuya would be this crowded..." Yukiko said as she looks around.

"You're telling me..." Sun sighed as he keeps bumping around others.

"So... the HQ, where's it at, again?" Ruby asked her teacher.

"Across the road, and into an alley. Going straight out from there and you'll find a building with a symbol of a Black Tiger's head." Seta explained to her as she guided them.

Although the passed the stoplight, the crowd of people was very dense enough that Ruby lost the group she was with. "What the... guys?" Ruby said as she looked around for her friends.

Weiss: "Ruby!"

Jaune: "I'm here!"

Jaune and Weiss came to her presence and help her to an open spot of congregated mess. "At this rate, we'll be left behind." Weiss groaned.

"Right, sorry." Ruby apologized as she then looked around her surrounding. "So... any idea where we should go?" Ruby asked as Weiss looked even more disappointed.

"Professor Narukami said to go into an alley. I think the first alley when we enter this place." Jaune suggested.

Suddenly, Zwei jumped out of Ruby's backpack as the huntress staggered in response. "Z-Zwei!? Wait!" Ruby exclaimed as Jaune and the reluctant heiress followed suit. Soon enough, they followed Zwei towards an alley as he went to mark his territory. "Zwei... stop running all over the place!" Ruby groaned.

"In a different kingdom, that'll be bad..." Jaune agreed as he scanned their surrounding. "Uh... is this the alley?" He wondered.

"Oh! Well, I guess this is the way!" Ruby assumed with Weiss sighed in response. As they passed a middle-aged Faunus with a lizard tail was sweeping in front of his store, catching wind of the students walking pass him as he watches them walking away.

"Okay, so we head straight out of the alley and we'll be able to find the HQ place, right." Ruby recalled.

But before they left the alleyway, their surrounding suddenly started to distort without them noticing as they felt a slight headache.

"Ugh... what the..." Jaune stuttered.

"Wait, you felt that too?" Ruby asked as she rubbed her head.

"I thought I was the only one." Weiss mentioned as they continued walking out.

* * *

No Date confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Morning

"There was an incident that almost became an accident, due to your endeavors, remember that? The engineer that was operating at that time suffered a psychotic breakdown and he wasn't the first of many victims of the 'Psychotic breakdown incident.'" Gaius mentioned.

"I may have heard of that a while back but..." Ruby recalled as she pondered, lost in thought.

"I can assume the drug are still affecting you? Those incidents were all over the news, including a teacher at Shujin... Of course you students weren't there at the time." Gaius explained. "Still back to the part where you arrived at my 'Headquarters, did you noticed something odd about my guild? Do you remember what happened at that time?" He asked as Ruby continues her recollection.

* * *

7/31 **Black Fang Headquarters** Afternoon

They managed to find the Black Fang guild, but what they saw before them, was completely out of the ordinary. An oriental castle in the middle of modern buildings surround it.

"Is this the place?" Jaune asked.

"Well it does have the Black Fang symbol." Ruby answered as she pointed. It did show the Black Fang symbol of a black-colored Tiger on the wall.

"I never knew their Headquarters was so... Wait, these guys were mercenaries, right? I never knew they actually established a place so..." Weiss commented despite being speechless.

"Oh right, the others should be inside already, let's go." Ruby decided as Weiss followed.

"Don't you guys think that there's something off about this place...? Er... Weiss? Ruby...? W-Wait up!" Jaune begged as he followed them in.

Unbeknownst to them some silhouette peeked behind a corner as they watched them going in. "Oh shit... they went in!" A vulgar voice grunted.

"Are they the students you guys mentioned. If they don't know what to do, they might be in trouble if they're caught." A boy's calmed voice mentioned.

"We can all blame Skull for rushing it." A female's voice pointed out.

"Aright, alright, sorry!" Skull responded back rudely. "So what should we do, Joker? We gotta get them out of there."

All turned to their leader as he came up with a plan.

* * *

As the three entered the Headquarters, they only find an empty oriental hall which flickers between a modern hall. "Uh... Am I seeing things?" Jaune wondered.

It... has to be-... Jaune, where did you get that mask?" Weiss asked as she and Ruby turn to see Jaune with a white metallc visor masking his eyes.

"Mask?" Jaune repeated as he checked his face. "Huh!? When did I...?" Jaune staggered as he tries to take it off, despite no avail. "Ngh, I can't get it off!" He exclaimed he was about to ask the girls as he noticed something on their faces as well. "Wait, you guys have masks, too!" He point back.

Ruby and Weiss were as surprised as well as they look towards each other. Ruby had a gothic-looking mask on her face as Weiss has a pure white mask with a chapeau, including a feather, on her head. "How on Remnant did we get these mask on!?" Weiss questioned.

"I dunno!" Ruby replied as they all try to peel the masks off, only to stop when they felt jolt of pain from it. "Ow... it's glued on...!" Ruby cried.

"H-Hey, this isn't some odd trick-thing the Black Fang pulled on us, right!?" Jaune wondered as he panicked.

"They aren't barring our sight though..." Weiss noted. Apparently they can still see through their masks with no blindsides. "Ugh... those Black Fang stooges are a lot to answer for!" Weiss declared.

Just then they see a masked samurai walking towards them as Weiss step up to him. "You there! What is the meaning of these masks!? Where did these things come from?" She questioned as the masked samurai stood silent. "Why are you being quite? Say something!" The Heiress demanded as another masked samurai stepped in from another side. "Uh... Hey...!" She stuttered as she stepped back a few spaces.

Suddenly another pair of figures appeared behind them, this time a pair of masked shinobi blocking their exit. "Weiss, I don't think they're here to greet us..." Ruby realized.

 **"You're all trespassing and not supposed to be here! Seize the assassins!"** One of the masked samurai commanded.

"Assassins...? Wait, what!?" Jaune exclaimed by surprise.

The guards instantly surrounded them as Weiss tries to retaliate with her semblance, but with no avail. "...!? My glyphs! My semblance isn't working!?" She stuttered as Ruby and Jaune had exclamation marks.

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed as she didn't see the other samurai raising his fist and smacking her in the face, rendering her unconscious.

"Ruby!" Weiss and Jaune exclaimed as their voices fade out of her ears.

* * *

Outside the Black Fang Headquarters, the Beacon students were waiting on their friends as Yu and his friends regrouped with them. "I can't believe it, did they get lost?" Chie wondered.

"This is a huge city, it's no surprise that this place hard to find..." Yosuke agreed.

"Ruby-chan... Weissy-chan..." Teddie worried.

"... It's no good, she's not picking up on her scroll..." Yang told them with concern.

Maybe... the connection is bad?" Nora guessed.

Soon enough Team MAYJ arrived as well. "Were you guys able to find them?" Yu asked.

"No dice, actually, Team MASK was calling for us." Minato shook his head.

"Mitsuru-senpai said that we had to help with prepping up our end with your vacation." Yukari mentioned.

"Lucky you guys..." Junpei sighed.

"I understand. We'll be fine on our end, can you see if you find Ruby-chan and the others along your way?" Yu requested.

"We will see if Ruby-san, Jaune-san, and Weiss-san are around nearby." Aigis confirmed as they left.

"I can understand Jaune and Ruby might end up lost, but Weiss?" Ren realized.

"Hmm... this may be difficult to find them, but I hope that they're all together at least." Pyrrha hoped.

Yu's cell scroll rung as he picked it up, a text from someone with important written on it. "Yosuke!" Yu beckoned quietly to his teammate as he show the text to him, much to his surprise as well.

"Oh crap...!" Yosuke stuttered. "Are they nearby?"

"One way to find out." Yu responded as he turned to his friends. "Me and Yosuke will check elsewhere, we'll meet back here soon enough." He assured as he and Yosuke rushed off.

"Huh? H-Hey! ... Where are they going?" Chie wondered.

* * *

"Ruby! Ruby!"

Ruby sight began to focus as regained her hearing with seeing Weiss and Jaune above her. "Nugh..." Ruby groaned as she rubs her head, rubbing around the mask on her, that is. "What... happened...?" She asked as she then realize her surroundings, with all three of being trapped in a big cage. "Wait a second, are you guys okay?" She asked.

"I'm good, but they took Crocea Mors from me..." Jaune replied as he took his scroll out. "And our scrolls are out of service." He mentioned dejectedly.

"And Myrtenaster as well. They must bold enough to only stripped our weapons from us." Weiss included. Right on the lien, even Crescent Rose as well. "I have no idea what they were thinking, but why did they call us assassins?"

"I couldn't be because of these masks, we can't even get them off..." Ruby included as she stood up a she searched the cage, approaching the locked door before them. "Still, we need to get out of here and get our weapons back..." She stated. "First, we gotta get out of this cage..." She pointed out as she shook the cage door. They tried to lockpick the lock but the tools they brought with them wasn't efficient. Eventually she and Jaune were ramming it... with no avail.

"This certainly not working in out favor." Weiss assumed as she watches them.

"You could've help!" Ruby retorted as she and Jaune were sore from attempting to break the cage door.

"Wow... Took you this long to calm down?" A boyish voice rung out as a odd feline-looking creature with a yellow scarf peeked out of the bushes nearby and approached the caged Huntsmen. "For a bunch of Huntsmen, you're all so clumsy." It gloated.

"What!? What the heck is this thing...?" Jaune staggered, stepping back.

"Clumsy? I'm not the clumsy one! Who do you think you are you little imp!?" Weiss exclaimed with denial.

"Ha, bold disrespect coming from a rich girl in the cage. And here I am breaking you guys out." It scoffed.

"Your letting us out? Then you aren't with the Black Fang here?" Ruby asked.

"Not at all. Actually, this place, these soldiers, they aren't even the real deal. Just a bunch of Shadow of this palace." It corrected, leaving the Huntsmen confused.

"I don't even understand what you are talking about, you cat-thing! And what are you?" Weiss questioned.

"! Shhh!" It immediately scampered off as it went of sight before a pair of guards patrolled nearby.

 **"So when are we gonna execute those assassins?" One of the guards asked.**

 **"Soon enough. Orders are orders." The other guard reassured as they both walked away.**

Soon after the cat-looking creature reappeared out from behind the bush. "Ugh... seriously quiet down. I can't get you out so easily if you guys chatter so loudly!" It demanded silently.

"We don't even know who you are." Weiss told it quietly.

"Figures... My name is Morgana, missy." Morgana introduced himself.

"Morgana?" Jaune wondered. "Where did I hear that name...?"

"Anyways... an acquaintance of mine requested me and my crew to bust you guys out, so if you want to escape, you better follow me." Morgana told them.

"But our weapons were taken, we can't just leave our extension of ourselves here!" Ruby recalled.

"Geez, must you make my job even harder? You guys even went so far with tampering with this lock..." Morgana groaned. "Fortunately, I manage to see where they store them."

"You'll help us get them back?" Jaune said.

"Just keep a low profile and we should be scotch-free from this palace." Morgana told them as the door unlocked. "Alright, follow me!" Morgana ordered as they reluctantly obeyed. They left the yard as they snuck through the halls of the oriental castle, although... as they crept through halls, they haven't spotted any guards until Morgana peeked around the corner. "That's the room with your weapons. If we can beat those two Shadows we should be able to grab what you guys are looking for." He told them as the huntsmen also peeked around the corner as well.

"Those guys look big, but how can we fight without our weapons...?" Jaune mentioned.

"What do you mean? Don't you guys have your Personas?" Morgana wondered.

"Oh, right! We have them, but... wait, how did you know about our Personas?" Weiss questioned.

"What do you mean? You have those masks right? Rip'em off and you have your Personas." Morgana explained, leaving the students baffled.

"What? But we've tried. These masked are glued tight on our faces for god-knows-how!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Huh? Aren't you guys Persona-" Morgana questioned back but their commotion drew the enemies attention.

 **"Huh...? Who's there!?"** One of the samurai guard exclaimed as they both started to approached them.

The Huntsmen staggered as Morgana scanned its surrounding. "Hmm... Let's use this as an advantage." He suggested.

As the guard turned to the corner, it saw nothing as it patrolled onward as the students came out of hiding from behind several furniture. "Close..." Ruby sighed quietly as they followed Morgana to the room where their weapons were.

When they entered the room, it started to distort briefly. "Whoa, what's up with this room...?" Jaune wondered as the room.

"Ah... this might actually be a safe room..." Morgana answered.

"A safe room?" Ruby repeated.

"Given to the lack of distortion here, the ruler's control here is weaker." Morgana explained. "See how this room fazes between two types of architecture?" He mentions as they watched room phases to a modern-looking room and back to an old oriental room.

"Distortion? What are you talking about?" Weiss questioned.

"Of course you guys wouldn't get it right away. This palace is another reality that the ruler's heart projects." Morgana continued. "You guys still don't get it, right?"

Weiss and Jaune were still stumped as Ruby took a closer look around the room, only to find their weapons on the ground. "Crescent Rose!" Ruby gasped as she rushes towards her weapon a hugs it tight. "Oh I missed you so much!"

"Huh? Crocea Mors! Why are they on the ground...?" Jaune wondered. As he said their weapons were laying on the ground, even Myrtenaster was pinned on the surface of the floor.

"Unbelievable! They have the nerve to place my weapon like this!?" Weiss grunted as she check her weapon all over.

Soon after they reequip their weapons back, they began their strategy on escaping. "So... what on earth is going on with this place anyways? Is this the Black Fang Headquarters?"

"Well... Yes and no." Morgana corrected. "This place what I call a palace, a reality of what the ruler perceives. A world in which one's distorted desires have materialized."

"A palace...? Then this castle is actually the Black Fang HQ, but what the ruler views it as is...?" Weiss assumes.

"Correct." The cat followed. "You guys are also curious about those masks on your faces, right?" He mentioned.

"Yeah, this is weird, where and how did these masks get on our faces, anyways?" Jaune asked.

"Well, for starters, anything in these palaces can distorts according to how the ruler pleases within. A Headquarters can turn into a castle, after all. Normally, in order to prevent any distortions on yourselves, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion." Morgana explained, yet he still looked perplexed. "Still, you guys haven't summoned your Personas in here, yet, is that right?"

They all nodded. "But what do these masks have to do with out Personas?" Weiss asked.

"Well, one's appearance is a manifest an image of rebellion that you guys hold within. Seeing how this is your guy's first time here, your entire outfit hasn't developed." Morgana pointed.

"We have an outfit?" Ruby asked.

"Coming from someone who witnessed a method, you'll have to rip off the mask in order to summon your Persona." Morgana mentioned.

"But the masks are glued tight onto our faces. We'll only end up ripping off our skin in the process." Jaune recalls.

"Well of course it's gonna hurt." Morgana stated. "If you guys are really huntsmen, then you'll have to deal with it. I'm pretty sure you already know that survival is't pretty."

A moment of silence filled the air as Ruby decided to ask another question. "So... what are you?" Ruby asked.

"Uh... I'm a human-an honest-to-god human." Morgana replied.

"You obviously look more of a cat." Weiss denied.

"This is... because I lost my true form! ... I'm... probably a Faunus... or so... I think..." Morgana retorted with a stutter.

Jaune: "You think?"

"Look, I have an idea to regain my true form. But right now, me and my crew are trying to help you guys escape." Morgana told them.

"Oh, now that I think of it, who is your acquaintance? Is he someone you know?" Ruby mentioned.

"I think you guys call them Yu and Yosuke?" Morgana recalled.

"Yosuke and Narukami? You know them?" Weiss exclaimed.

"Of course, their assistance provided us a successful raid against a con-artist." Morgana boasted.

"Con-artist..." Weiss recalls a certain artist in mind. "Are you referring to Madarame... are you?"

"You know about that Madarame guy?" Morgana asked.

"Isn't he the one who used his students and plagiarized their artwork?" Weiss added.

"No surprise there, we had to change his heart. He was truly a corrupted individual who made a profit off of his students." The cat said.

"Changing his heart...?" Ruby muttered as she soon realized. "Wait, are you one of those Phantom Thieves?"

"That's right. We're the ones who stole his treasure and took his desires." Morgana boasted as the revelation surprised the Huntsmen.

"The Phantom Thieves? Wait, THOSE Phantom Thieves?" Jaune exclaimed.

Morgana: "That's right."

"... Those two have some serious explanation about this." Weiss grunted.

"This is all nice and dandy, but we need to move. I bet your friends are worried about you guys." Morgana mentioned. "You can question us later when we're in the clear, now come on." He stated as he went towards the door. "You have your weapons, so I hope you are as capable of defend yourselves."

"We can hold our own, you little miscreant." Weiss stated defiantly.

* * *

As they exited the safe room they been in, they crept through the hallway quietly as they wondered where the guards are. "That's odd... I would've seen more guards here. Isn't this place a huge castle or something?" Jaune wondered.

"That is... odd..." Morgana agreed. "We'll need to be on alert. It's never this quiet, especially in a palace."

They continued to hurry through the halls as they managed to reach what looks like the door they've entered in from. "The exit, we're finally saved!" Jaune exclaimed.

But while the student huntsmen rushes towards the exit, Morgana noticed something off. "H-Hey, wait a sec-!"

Soon enough, a pair of Ninjas appeared above before them. **"You assassins thought you'd escape here alive!?"** One of the Shinobi questioned as it snapped its fingers as numerous samurais bursts through the doors and surrounded the group.

"Ahh! So close...!" Ruby stuttered as she back-steps from a swing from a ninja.

 **"The nerve to strike down our lord next, you will pay for you lives!"** One of the shinobi declared.

"But we don't even know what your talking about, when did we ever planned some assassination!?" Ruby questioned but they ignored her as they dissolved into a black liquid and a figure morphed into a giant stone guardian along with demons in pots. "What the...!?" She staggered.

"Unbelievable! Don't just stand there, fight! The Shadows will kill you if you don't fight back!" Morgana exclaimed as he took his stand. "Come! Zorro!"

 ***Keeper of Lust**

A surge of blast flew out as the huntsmen turned to Morgana as they see a black figure wielding a rapier with its oversized arms. "A persona!? How-"

"Here they come!" Morgana alerted as they drew their weapons.

* * *

The pair of demons in pots lunge towards them as Jaune blocked them with his shield but was forced back. "Gah!"

"Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed as she starts firing with Crescent Rose.

One of the demon in pot lunged towards Weiss as she attempt to parry away the attack, but the other demon rammed her from her flank, pushing her off her balance as she tripped. Ruby keeps firing as Zorro whips its rapier everywhere as it unleashed **Magarula** as it staggered the shadows back. "Come on you guys! You have to use your Personas if you want to survive! We're gonna be in trouble at rate!" Morgana exclaimed as he ordered Zorro to use **Media** on the Huntsmen.

"You're not joking around are you?" Weiss questioned as she stand back up.

The situation wasn't looking good. With the exit barred behind the fiends in front of them, they can't even use their semblance due to a familiar lock on their abilities and the only way to use their Persona is to rip their masks off.

It was looking bad... until Ruby heard a voice. **_"Why are you hesitating?"_** A female voice asked as a surge painful jolt zapped in her head, resulting in a major headache as she staggered around.

Weiss and Jaune looked to Ruby as she looked in pain. "R-Ruby? What's going on!?" Jaune asked as he and the heiress immediately turned to the surrounding Shadows creeping up on them.

"Ngh...! My head...!" Ruby grunted as the continuous pain kept drilling her.

 ***Awakening P5 ver.**

 ** _"You have already come this far and you would hesitate to induce pain on yourself because of a method unknown? Do you not want to become a huntress? Something you've always dreamed of? Or will you just betray your own desires for your safety of your skin?"_ **The voice questioned as Ruby recalls what Morgana told them.

 _"Well of course it's gonna hurt. If you guys are really huntsmen, then you'll have to deal with it. I'm pretty sure you already know that survival is't pretty."_ Morgana stated.

Knowing full well that pain by any means are normal for huntsman and huntresses, so what would ripping our own skin be any different. Ruby then planted Crescent Rose in the floor as she placed her hands of her mask. _**"Alright then. I am thou, thou art I. Thou hath continue to cross the path through damnation and live to see it through, and will continue do so! Be it so, for those who live and to the passing of others!"**_ The voice declared.

In a cinematic scene, Ruby tighten her grip on her mask as she began to peel it off. "Grrrr...! Guh... Grrrrrraaaaaaaaaghh!"

"Ruby, what are you doing!?" Weiss exclaimed, eve more to her and Jaune's surprise and shock, they began to see blood spewing out as Ruby literally rip off her mask.

Peeling the mask was a slow process as blood gushed out. Soon enough, Ruby completely ripped her mask off as she screamed in pain as the bloody wound began to lit aflame blue. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ruby cried loudly as she was engulfed in the blue flame.

"RUBY!" Weiss and Jaune shouted in horror but then they two were also engulfed in the blue flame as well.

"About damn time..." Morgana sighed.

The Shadows grew impatient and passed Morgana as they charged towards the huntsmen in the blue flame until a gun shot rung as a pair of shots pierced through the flames and downed the demons in their pots as the stone giant stood there as the flame died out revealing the huntsman in their new outfits.

 ***Will Power**

As Ruby opened her eyes as it flashed yellow and then back to silver, she noticed that she is wearing a gothic attire with red roses adorn on her with her usual hood covering her head along with her Persona Soma behind her. At least this time, Soma's color scheme looked entirely different. The purple colors is red and its hair color is now white instead of black.

 _ **"I am Soma Picaro, the rebel will within thy soul."**_ Soma's voice echoed as the Persona spun its scythe and pointed at the enemies. **_"As you desire, I shall grant you this new power to break through this crisis."_** It told its user.

"Can you still help me out from this?" Ruby asked as she pulled Crescent Rose out as she took her fighting stance.

 _ **"As I always have."**_ Soma bowed in responded.

"R-Ruby...? That get-up..." Jaune stuttered as he and Weiss noticed their outfit Weiss is now fully wearing a white-colored duelist attire and Jaune had more armor than he ever had.

"These outfits... how..." Weiss staggered.

"Never mind! Focus with all you've guys got!" Morgana commanded as they returned to the battle.

Ruby began to swing heavily as a huge whirlwind, **Garula** , rolled through the stone guardian, inflicting major damage to it. She then swung another **Garula** at the demon in the pot as that fell down as well. Ruby tries to swing another, but went weak as she dropped her scythe.

Just then the other demon in the pot casts Zio at Ruby as the jolt staggered her in a downed state. "Ruby!" Jaune exclaimed as he began to rip his mask off as well. "Odin, **Rakukaja**!" Jaune commanded as his Persona appeared while giving cover upon Ruby.

"... I guess I... don't have a choice..." Weiss grunted as she began to rip her mask off. Oddly, she realized the pain from ripping her mask off wasn't as painful as it should've. Weiss managed to summon her Persona; Shiva as it blasted **Mabufula** all over the enemy.

"You all still getting use to summoning your Persona? You still have a long way to go." Morgana scoff with confidence as Zorro blasted the last Shadow into a down state. "You all know what an all-out attack is right? Show no mercy!" He declared as they all rushed towards the enemy as they pummeled the shadows into smithereens.

* * *

As the Shadows dissipated the passage to the exit became clear. "Alright, the way's clear, let's go before-" Morgana exclaimed until another pair of Shinobi appeared, preventing them from escaping once more.

"Oh, come on...!" Jaune grunted.

As the enemies began to draw their weapons, the heard footsteps coming closer as they moved to the side allow the person entry. The person looked like a samurai garbbed faunus as he walked towards them. **"So you all would struggle to escape? Admirable, but attempted assassination is still serious crime."** the samurai told them.

 **"King Gaius!"** One of the shadows exclaimed.

"King... Gaius?" Ruby muttered.

"The ruler of this palace, Gaius's shadow." Morgana told them as Shadow Gaius slowly drew his Katana.

 **"Do not think that you will escape so easily!"** Shadow Gaius declared as he ready in his stance.

"W-Wait a second! We don't even know what's going on!" Jaune exclaimed.

The huntsmen staggers back until a new pair of voice rung out. " **Garudyne**!" A blast wind blew away the shinobi barring the door.

"Izanagi Picaro!" A figure flew pass the huntsmen and thrust is naginata on Shadow Gaius but he manage to block an attack from a being twice his size himself.

"What the... that Persona!" Weiss staggered as it looked like Izanagi but the color scheme looked different. Unlike the original Persona, this Izanagi had more red over the white schemes.

Soon enough, two people appeared and stood between the Shadows and the students. "Are you guys alright?" The masked grey-headed individual masked person asked. He had a black trench coat with a grey bodysuit underneath with a white headband covering his eyes as the pair of long ends extends down to the knee-level.

"Huh... Who are you... wait, Yu!?" Ruby realized.

"H-Huh!?" Yu staggered with surprise.

"How did you..." The Ninja with the headphones questioned. He was garbbed in a ninja attire with a mask covering his mouth up to his nose and had a pair of headphones on him.

"Those headphones... Yosuke!?" Weiss exclaimed.

"Are we that noticeable...?" The ninja now known as Yosuke stuttered.

 **"Yu... and... that girl...** " Shadow Gaius glared at the grey-haired Persona User and then to Ruby, sighing heavily afterwards. **"I suggest that you take your friends and leave. Do not ever set foot in my castle or you and your friends will be hunted down."** He ordered as he walked away while his soldiers gathered before them.

"I think it's time we bail, now!" Yosuke suggested as he and Jaune opened the door as they escaped.

* * *

The group sprinted away as they slipped into a corner around the block. The students were all grasping for air. "It's a relief that you guys are okay." Yu said with relief.

"Yeah, but... what is the meaning of this!? I thought the Black Fang was a guild that anyone can enter, but those deranged fiends were intent on killing us!" Weiss questioned angrily.

"Oh, yeah... about that. Hold on, let's get out of here first." Yosuke suggested as he turned to his partner as he nodded in response as Yu took his cell scroll out.

"What are you talking about... Huh!?" Ruby asked but then the three Beacon students saw their surrounding distort.

While the students disappeared, Morgana, at a distant, watched them leave. "Well, that's one sharp needle in our infiltration." He told himself as he continues to talk to himself. "Still... perhaps they could be of use. Especially the new girl with the cape... Anyways, I guess I'll have to tell my crew the rescue was a success..." He muttered as he walked away.

* * *

Back with the students, the three young huntsmen, realize their surround atmosphere changed, the clear sky showed as it near its dusk, even bystanding civilians appeared, minding their own business as they weren't paying attention to the students. Even their outfits dissipated, reverting back to their school uniforms

"Wha- wait, what just happened!?" Weiss questioned bemusedly.

 _"You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."_ A voice monotonously stated on Yu's cell scroll.

"Returned...? What was that anyways...? We almost got killed back there." Jaune wondered as he winced.

"Let's just say that was another version of... the TV world." Yosuke stated.

"Another version of the TV world? Seriously?" Jaune asked much to their surprise.

"It's been going on just recently. Ever since the Phantom Thieves appeared." Yu mentioned.

"Phantom Thieves? Now that you mentioned it, a weird cat mentioned you guys... wait, where did that cat go?" Ruby recalls as she, Weiss, and Jaune looks around for it, but no avail due to the crowd around them.

"So what is going on Narukami? What do you two know about those ruffians?" Weiss demand her question.

They both looked to each other as gave their pained expression. "That's... a long story..." Yosuke said as he turns to Yu. "You think it's best that we tell them and the others?" He asked.

"We definitely owe them and explanation." Yu agreed as they turn to their Beacon friends. "I think it's best we tell you and the others about that 'place'. They were all looking for you guys."

"Oh, that's right! Yang and the others were headed over there!" Ruby realized as Weiss and Jaune also had exclamation marks over their heads.

"The Black Fang HQ?!" Jaune staggered as they rushed to the HQ.

"Hey wait!" Yosuke yelled at them by his voice went through depth ear as the ran around the corner. "Yeah, we're gonna need explain a lot." He guessed as his team leader agreed as they followed them back to the Black Fang HQ, little to what the Beacon students saw instead.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, man, I couldn't even finish this in December and It was intent on finishing this before Christmas too. Still I hope this seems good to you guys.**

 **If you guys haven't notice the [ and ] symbols, it means they speaking in a different language, the reason they were able to understand it was because their friends, who can speak and understand the language, are translating. In fact... would be possible... if those who entered the metaverse, would it be possible to learn the language because of they were able to understand their cognition and thoughts?**

 **Gaius's Palace is a completely original arc, so I hope you guys won't mind.**

 **Also you guys would wonder what I implemented in this chapter. For starters, you wonder why they only have their masks on before their Persona spoke to them? That because they were able to summon them before they entered the palace. It's just the new method they had to adapt to. The fact that these Persona Users were using a different method. Even their attire wasn't appearing because of it.**

 **Yu and Ruby's Persona, given to the conditions, I added Picaro to the wild cards as they rip their masks off so does triggering the chain reaction on their friends they've bond with, thus their teammates will have a free pass from the pain, all thanks to the leaders ripping theirs off first. And I'm certain Minato will acquire his, but at a later date, of course.**

 **As to the costumes, I did implemented their costume from my view. Yu's costume is similar to Raiden from the Metal Gear games, some of Yosuke's ninja attire is from FFXIV: Heavensward, swapping the head gear with a mask over his nose and mouth and his trademark headphones, Jaune's outfit is that of a knight, of course, and Weiss's duelist attire is from a Red Mage from FFXIV: Stormblood, but the color scheme is all white instead of red, and Ruby's... well... lot's of red roses...**

 **I may have to ask for commissions on deviantart one of theses days, but yeah.**

 **Also, about Tokyo Mirage Sessions... If I'm gonna implement that in the story, I may have to research it and likely make a lot of changes. For example, the Mirage masters and their Mirages... Perhaps I could consider them as another type of Persona; Mirage Personas, Persona that bears a separate will of its own as they work together with their wielder. Even better, seeing how both games take place in a the same settings and so.**

 **Anyways, Happy New Years everyone!**

 **And here's a Omake skit. 1 for now, unfortunately.**

* * *

Life of Zwei and Koromaru

Zwei was napping inside Team RWBY's drom as Ruby notices him. "Man, I wish I were a dog."

"They got the easy life." Ken agreed as he passes her room as she follows him with their books in hand.

Just then Koromaru enters the room. _"Zwei! It's time!"_ Koromaru barked as Zwei stood up and followed the Shiba out of the room.

* * *

Jaune was surrounded by Beowolves and both Zwei and Koromaru intervened as barked them off. "I'm saved!" Jaune exclaimed.

* * *

"Red... or blue...? Thisisn't good, I'm out of time...!" Naoto grunted as she tries to defuse a bomb. Soon enough, Koromaru appears and bit off the blue wire, halting the timer on 1. "Good boy, Koromaru-san, I'm saved." Naoto sighed with relief.

* * *

"How the hell did you lose that accessory!?" Yosuke questioned Weiss as they searched for her missing necklace.

"I don't know how! Oh, Father is going kill me...!" Weiss panicked as Zwei approached her with her missing necklace. "Oh! Never mind! I'm saved!" Weiss sighed with relief as Yosuke sighed as well.

* * *

The villians were down as Zwei and Koromaru stood tall in triumphant. "My... plans... My Neferious plans...! My evil schemes... all ruined! Curse you adorable meddlesome dogs!" Cinder grunted.

Soon enough, Koromaru went to mark his territory on... Adachi. "Huh...!? Nonono! Aaaauugh!" He yelped.

After a beating day of hard work Zwei and Koromaru returned to Team RWBY's room as they laid down on the rug as Ruby then appeared at the door. "Just like I left you. And Koromaru decided to join you. Don't you guys do anything all day?" Ruby wondered out loud. "C'mon guys, let's go play outside!" She commanded as Zwei and Koromaru whined in response. "What a pair of lazy butts."

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there - Shoji Meguro, Lyn Inaizumi**

 ***Beneath the Mask -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Keeper of Lust -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Awakening P5 ver. -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Will Power -** **Shoji Meguro**


	4. Code Names

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **Code Names**

7/31 **Black Fang Headquarters** Afternoon

Ruby, Weiss, and Jaune returned the the Black Fang Headquarters but instead saw what supposed to be a oriental castle but is actually a tall modern building, which confused the three students. "What the... where's the castle...!?" Ruby questioned.

"This... can't be... I could've sworn..." Weiss stuttered in a similar confusion.

"Were we... seeing things...?" Jaune wondered.

Much to their confusion, Yang and the rest of their friends came out of the HQ entrance only to find the three in front. "Ruby!" Yang exclaimed as she rushed in to embrace her with a tight squeeze. "Your okay!"

"Gack! S-Sis! Ow...!" Ruby stuttered from being crushed from her sister's grip.

"Jaune, thank goodness! What happened to you guys? I thought you have gotten lost elsewhere." Pyrrha asked.

"We... sorta did..." Jaune replied weakly.

"This city is huge enough to get lost. I understand." Ren placed his hand on Jaune's shoulder, nodding.

"How can you guys be so lax!? We were just inside the Black Fang and they were trying to kill us!" Weiss exclaimed.

Her friends were confused by her delirium. "What? Weiss... are you okay?" Blake questioned.

"Yeah, that's so not like you. Did something hit your head?" Nora wondered.

Weiss stuttered as Yu and Yosuke arrived. "You should see what the guild actually looks like, Weissy-chan." Yosuke suggested.

"You'll find it that it's a lot different than the other place." Yu reassured.

"I hope so..." Ruby sighed heavily as she decides to walk in. Jaune scratched his head and reluctantly followed her.

"I don't believe this..." Weiss groaned. "Fine, fine, I'll go." She soon followed them in, with their friends worried for them.

"Did somethin' happened to them? They're acting weird." Kanji asked.

"Could it be... that they went to one of those so-called red-light district?" Teddie assumed as the girls sweat-dropped by Teddie's assumption.

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

7/31 **Japan's Shipyard** Evening

Somewhere at a shipyard, a small group of White Fang soldiers arrive towards a hidden dock along with Adachi in toll. As he waited half an hour in a storage facility, he then spots Cinder and her pair of lackeys, Emerald and Mercury coming in. "Huh... took you guys long enough." Adachi commented as he stood up to greet them. "And I had to take a boat here."

"Overconfident, aren't you?" Cinder assumed.

"No, just bored." Adchi replied as he watches the White Fang soldiers working nervously. "Come to think of it, these guys were all stationed here for a while now, right? I can guess these guys here are still shook up after that incident?"

Cinder and the others looked around, as the gloom were upon them. "Aren't there supposed to more of them?" Emerald wondered.

"Yeah, well... pissing off a deity was a clear mistake. I heard a huge number of those guys were all slaughtered." Adachi mentioned.

"That Fox deity, right?" Mercury repeated.

"Hmph, I guess that's why Adam didn't want to attack Japan yet, either. Still sore after that incident. You guys do remembered how they came back with only me and a hand-full of convicts, right?"" Adachi assumed as they recalled their conversation back in Vale.

"Please don't repeat it." Emerald groaned.

* * *

6/20 **Vale** Evening

Sometime before the trip to Japan, Cinder's group and the White Fang members were all discussing their next move about recruiting more soldiers, when they've mentioned the branch in Japan. "Out of the question. We don't have the means to ask for there help." Adam dismissed the idea, much to Cinder's group surprise.

"And why is that? Surely there would be that rumored deity would've provided you its service?" Cinder assumed.

Adam said nothing as Adachi spoke out. "It kinda went south, actually." He mentioned.

Adam said nothing as he walks away. "I don't care what you guys do, if you guys want go and try ask them yourself, it's your funeral." He suggested.

"Who does he think he is?" Mercury questioned as he stood up as he walk towards Adam's direction, but was stopped by Adachi.

"Give it a rest. Even a powerful guy like him can't go against something that can overpower him." Adachi stated.

"Is he not the fearless leader of the White Fang? Surely he isn't afraid of one measly spirit." Cinder assumed.

Adachi snickered about that. "You really think that deity is some push over?" He asked.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emerald questioned.

"You don't know? Well let me tell you. Just so you know, you haven't heard this from me." Adachi stated as he explain. "You all know about gods and all, right? Well, my Kingdom has their own religions as well, one that supposedly to respecting spirits and so." Adachi continued. "There's a lot of deities that represents certain animals too, that part is where Faunus are not as discriminated because of that."

"These deities are animals?" Mercury scoffed. "You can't be serious."

"I'm not, but I am right." Adachi replied with a smug as he continued. "Like I said, there are many deities in our Kingdom, but let's talk about the one that eradicated the army of White Fang stationed there. Tell, what do you guys know about the Kitsune?"

"Kit... sune? What, is some kind of godly rodent?" Emerald asked.

"Yep." Adachi answered simply. "To be precise, the Kitsune or that Fox deity is actually the one responsible for the barrier for our kingdom. Whatever Adam did, he must of provoked its wrath. Either he ask the deity to join the White Fang's cause or asking him to lower the barrier, pissing him off in the process for some reason." He shrugged.

"Tch, you really think you were gonna scare us?" Mercury questioned with careless doubt.

"No, not at all. Heck, you guys never even step foot in his domain..." Adachi denied with a hint of sarcasm, but he then ponder. "Actually, I never met the guy either..." He mentioned.

"So then, it will be the first for all of us? I can't wait until we actually pay a visit to this deity." Cinder said with sarcasm.

"Hold on, you guys are actually going to scout out my kingdom? That's going out of left field, isn't it?" Adachi realized.

"You vastly underestimate us, Tohru. The White Fang has their contacts all over Remnant and we will need their cooperation if we want our plans to be flawless." Cinder stood closely before Adachi as he didn't seemed convinced. "And we will need a translator, given that you're Japanese."

"All I know is that those guys ran into a ditch and lost a lot of men than gaining any after their first attempt. If you can persuade them for this to happen, then you can color me impressed." Adachi scoffed as he kept a portion of distance away from Cinder. "Besides, you're asking me to go with you, knowing that I'm considered a fugitive back home? I'll be spotted once I entered the Kingdom."

"We have that part covered." Cinder mentioned as Adachi popped an exclamation mark as he faced Cinder. "All we need to do is serve as my translator and I'll pull some strings. You'll be surprise that many... individuals... have no liking to your Kingdom's society."

"You don't say..." Adachi muttered as Cinder's group walks away as the former wondered. _"What are you going on about, Cinder-san...?"_

* * *

7/31 **Japan's Shipyard** Evening

The garage door of the storage facility opened up as they see a group of suited faunus entering as Cinder's group and the loitering White Fang members watched them. One of them stepped before Cinder's group. "[Are you the clients the White Fang mentioned?]" He asked.

"... What?" Emerald stuttered as she and Mercury were baffled by the suite person's language.

"He asking if we were the clients the White Fang mentioned." Adachi translated.

"Indeed. Tell your superiors that we would like to me with your 'leader'." Cinder responded while Adachi translated back.

"[Come with us.]" He said as he walks out as he then glares back. "[And you will behave in our kingdom.]" He growled as he and his men followed.

"Uh... Let's just say that... he's on edge recently." Adachi fibbed. "So we going?" He asked as they group were escorted to a limo.

* * *

7/31 **Japan** Evening

Back at the Hotel, Every student, includeing Ruby, Weiss, and Jaune were all still confused as they sat at the lobby furniture. "Hey... we really saw that stuff back there, have we...?" Jaune questioned.

"We only saw the main hall, and had a coffee shop on the right..." Ruby recalled.

"Yeah, pretty much." Kanji answered plainly.

"And what is this about Gaius being absent?" Weiss questioned irritatingly. "He was right there..."

"He's actually bedridden back at his residence." Yu stated as he Yosuke walked towards the group. "You're still wondering about what you guys saw there, right?"

"We've been wondering about that, too, why they're seeing things. Do you guys know about some castle in place of the Black Fang HQ?" Chie asked.

Yu and Yosuke were uncertain of what they should say as Ruby stood up and looked to them with a stern expression. "Yu, what was that? We entered the HQ earlier and it wasn't the same one when we entered the second time."

"Guess it's time to break the ice." Yosuke sighed heavily as Yu nodded to him. "You guys remember last month, when we mentioned the Phantom Thieves?" He asked.

"Yes, we've been hearing them everywhere recently. In fact, we saw a strange looking cat in that place... Morgana he called himself." Weiss mentioned.

"Morgana? Isn't he that cat that belong to Akira?" Ren recalls.

"Huh!? So that's where I heard his name!" Jaune realized. "But... are they the same cat?"

"That's a strange story. Perhaps we could confirm this with Akira?" Yukiko suggested.

"We could do that, in fact, you guys wanna go to the place where they saw the castle? We might actually meet the Phantom Thieves there." Yosuke said otherwise as Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and even Chie, Yukiko, Teddie, and Kanji.

"Your... kidding right? You two can get us grant an audience with them?" Weiss questioned with a baffled expression.

"Granting an audience?" Yu repeated with a confused look.

"Uhh... well, those guys are a secret group that tackles those palaces and take their distortions... but you guys probably don't know what I said." Yosuke said.

"Yeah, it sounds too smart for someone like you." Chie pointed out as Yosuke sweat-dropped.

"I assure you guys, the Phantom Thieves are not bad people. We should be able to have a free afternoon, tomorrow, so we can confront them that time." Yu assured.

"You better be right about this, Narukami. I will not going to consort with thieves." Weiss declared as she stormed off to the elevator, although the elevator door opened as a group of suited men marched forward and shoved her aside. "Ow, hey!" She exclaimed as she staggered aside. "Excuse me! What was that for!?"

"[What do you want?]" One of the suited men questioned sternly.

"*Scoff* You pushed me away way like that! Who do you think you are!?" Weiss questioned him.

"[We're in a hurry.]" The suit men stated.

"Well you should've said something before you shoved me like that! You damn oaf!" Weiss exclaimed.

"[What was that?]" The suited man exclaimed.

The commotion alerted her friends and Teammates to her side. "Weiss, what's going on?" Yang asked as they approached them with the suited man staggered back.

"[Don't bother with them.]" Another man came out of the elevator a distinguished bald man with tinted sunglasses on. "[It seems the lobby has changed since I was here last. Since when did they started a day care?]"

"Who do you think you are!? Guh!" Weiss questioned as a suited man pushed her back in front of her friends.

"Weiss!" Some of her friends exclaimed.

"[The hell was that for, ya' asshole!]" Kanji roared as the tension between the student huntsmen and the distinguished group grew in the lobby.

"[Tch, stop bothering me you damn-!]" The distinguished man exclaimed until...

"[Damn... what exactly, Shido-san?]" Seta questioned with a strong tone as approached the area.

"[N-Narukami-san...!?]" The bald man named Shido stuttered with a growled.

"[Okaa-san, do you know this guy?]" Yu asked.

"[Ah, yes.] Masayoshi Shido, a politician, also a cabinet minister that's running for election of the next Prime Minister of our Kingdom." Seta explained.

"[It seems your scattered brain has still some sense of of awareness. And I can assume these street rats are yours?]" Shido questioned which made the students upset with exclamation marks on them.

"[Well, you're clearly busy, there's a way opened so I suggest you take it from here, unless you want your men to have a harassment warrant on a lady.]" Seta suggested in a threatening tone. While the students were impressed by their teacher, some of the suited men were dissatisfied by her remark but Shido shrugged as he took the opening Seta gave him. However, Seta gripped one of the suited men on the shoulder with a strong grip. "[Wait.]" She demanded.

"[What is it now, we're busy!]" Shido exclaimed.

"[From what I heard just now. I believe one of your boys pushed my student, correct? Now what kind of brute does that in our great kingdom?]" Seta recalled as the suited men began to yelp from the gripping pain. "[Well? Apologize.]" She asked her victim.

"[O-Ow! Ahh!" S-Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry!]" The suited man cried, but Seta release her grip and pulled down his ear.

"[And who are you apologizing to?]" Seta asked as he turned the suited man to the Schnee heiress.

"[A-Alright! Sorry! We really are in a hurry! Our boss have clients to meet! Ow...!]" The suited man exclaimed as Seta eventually released him.

"... So immature..." Weiss muttered.

"[At least, next time, teach your men to show some manners if you want your reputation to stay in check.]" Seta suggested as Shido and his distinguished group walked away.

"What was his problem?" Blake questioned with disgust.

"Unfortunately, just another side of us rotten adults." Seta sighed with sad smile as she turned to her students with a smile. "Anyway, is it not pass your bedtime? Chop chop!" She declared as the students obey and headed up.

At the hotel entrance, Shido looks back as he noticed the boy with grey hair. _"So... that's the brat of the Silver Flash Raiden...?_ " He thought as he enters a limousine.

* * *

At their hotel room, Weiss was still upset about the dispute just now as she paced left and right. "You still pissed off?" Yang asked.

"Of course! I just... Agh...!" Weiss grunted. "Is every guy in Japan like that bald oaf!?"

"We're certainly not bald and we're not even politicians." Chie assured. "Still, I have to agree, those guys has a lot of nerve...!"

"Why don't we calm down and do... something else?" Pyrrha suggested calmly.

"Yeah, oh! how 'bout some TV?" Yang suggested as she turned the TV on.

Even though most of the girls doesn't speak Japanese, they passed the though and stared at the screen, Ruby notices a familiar face as Yang flipped the channel. "Wait, go back a few! Thought I saw Naoto." Ruby mentioned as Yang flipped the channels back a they see Naoto along with Akechi in a talk show.

* * *

"We now return to the 'Hottest Meet-and-Greet' segment of our show! Tonight, we bring you our Kingdom's finest young high school detectives, starring not just Goro Akechi, but our very first detective of a young age, Naoto Shirogane!" The female host greeted.

"Thank you for having me here and it is nice to see a fellow detective." Naoto thank the cast.

"Of course. Although, should I address you as my senpai?" Akechi asked.

"Not at all... unless you're okay with the embarrassment?" Naoto pointed out as Akechi and audience laughed. "Still, it is remarkable that your popularity has skyrocketed after I returned from my trip overseas."

"Even I've found it to be quite a surprise. At first it was you who've inspired me to become a detective myself, you're a shining example for us high school students everywhere." Akechi commented.

"That is truly surprising. My only reason is because that my family were once detective themselves so I had no qualms on continuing their lineage." Naoto told them.

"And they must be proud." The host assured as he continued. "Moving on, Akechi-kun is currently on a case regarding the Phantom Thieves. While we're aware that you have only return from a foreign kingdom, can you share your thoughts, Naoto-kun?"

"Ah, yes. I looked over the case myself and researched everything related. It's unfortunate that they've eluded us even today."

"Indeed, the victims, the teacher, Kamoshida, the master artist Madarame, and just recently, a mafia boss, Kaneshiro. They have been a target of those thieves and they happened to 'change' their hearts, making them confess their crimes." Akechi summarized. "My deductions were that they've been blackmailed into a corner. And they would called themselves on the side of justice."

"So... they're some random group of vigilantes?" Naoto wondered.

"Yes indeed. We were about ask you and Akechi both about the recent string of events happening in our Kingdom. Especially the Phantom Thieves going around." Said the Host of the show. "Allow me to be blunt once more, what are your thoughts about these justice oriented Phantom Thieves?"

"As I've said last time, I still believe they should be tried i a court of law." Akechi declared. "No one should never forcefully change another person's heart."

"And what are your thoughts, Naoto-kun?" The Host asks. "Do you truly believe the Phantom Thieves are a threat?"

* * *

7/31 **Cafe Lablanc** Evening

In the cafe, Akira and his group of friends were watching the talk show."Great... another Akechi." Ryuji grunted.

 _"Hmm... While agree that I cannot condone their actions or many of their methods... What I do condone is their sense of justice, what they fight for."_ Naoto declared much to everyone's surprise. Loud murmur rung in the audience in the screen as to everyone watching the program, even certain students.

"Wait... what?" Ann exclaimed.

 _"What do you mean, Naoto-senpai? Do you have more to your thoughts."_ Akechi asked.

 _"I may have been absent from my kingdom, but did my research back from when they have appeared."_ Naoto continued. _"I have my statement regarding the Phantom Thieves, would you mind if I have your permission to say my piece?"_ She asked.

 _"Not all, I wouldn't mind. I would like to hear you thoughts."_ Akechi agreed.

 _"Not to worry, this shouldn't take long."_ Naoto reassured the Host who was stuttering as Naoto brought out a manila folder. _"First off, I would like to talk about their first victim, Suguru Kamoshida."_

 _"Wait... isn't that person irrelevant in all of this?"_ The Host asked.

 _"This man is the first victim of the Phantom Thieves, in fact he has an interesting case. He was a member of the Black Fang until his disbarment for his 'misconduct' in the guild."_ Naoto explained.

"Misconduct?" Akira muttered.

"The hell? That asshat never mentioned that before!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"That... unusual." Said a refined blue-haired Fox Faunus. "Black Fang members stationed at our schools supposedly have a clean record of sorts.

"Unless the Principle knew about this..." Makoto assumed.

 _"What do you mean, Naoto-senpai?"_ Akechi pressed on.

* * *

"He was already discharged from the guild for sexual harassment, all because of his excuses for his success in a Grimm defense long ago. But his presence in a school, Shujin Academy? His permanent record wouldn't allow him to be easily applicable as a teacher and now there was that incident of his confession. What's worst is that the students under his tutelage were all severely wounded with broken limbs and bruises. With those severe conditions, those students will never last against a beowolf, let alone any type of Grimm." Naoto stated. "Knowing about an inexcusable charge, why was he employed into a school when he had no longer the right to practice his rights?"

"Uh... well... Wait, why are we talking about some individual? Aren't we talking about the Phantom Thieves and their crimes?" The Host asked in a staggered.

"That is correct, we are talking about the Phantom Thieves, but I am talking about their victims. There was then muttering around the audience as Naoto continued. "Now I want to discuss their next victim; Ichiryusai Madarame. What do you think about him, Akechi-kun?"

"Well for starters... He not only he degraded the art Saiyuri, he even plagiarized his pupil's artwork. Even though he may have committed those crimes, those Phantom Thieves must of had a part in his schemes." Akechi explained.

"I can't say that I disagree and your assumption is plausible, but can you certain they had a part of his schemes?" Naoto asked.

"Madarame must of been their benefactor. Assuming that they're using him for profit for their so-called justice."

"However, what about Madarame's pupils? I've read in a report that one of his disciple killed himself in response to Madarame's plagiarism, and that was long before the Phantom Thieve's appearance. Surely something like suicide should've been looked into and should've warrant a search for the supposedly method behind it along with the disappearance of the Sayuri." Naoto stated with some audience gasping upon revelation. "And... I assume no one has brought up the part of him owning replicas of the Sayuri?"

"I... have to assume the police didn't had enough man power for a search. Madarame had close ties to powerful people." Akechi noted. "But to think he had been doing this before the Phantom Thieve's appearance."

"As for Kaneshiro, we can already claim the fact that this criminal was responsible for the phishing scams in the city, and just like Madarame, he too, is a target to the Phantom Thieves." Naoto stated. "If I were to congregate the facts, it is the fact that either the authority or anyone with power were not doing their job and leaving the kingdom in a state of neglect. Had we done our job right, the Phantom Thieves wouldn't have to exist." She concluded. "Am I wrong?"

"... It seems I have a ways to go before I can reach your level, Naoto-kun." Akechi chuckled.

"Uhh... W-We'll be right back after these messages!" The Host stuttered as the screen went to commercial.

* * *

"... A state of neglect...?" Ruby muttered.

"It seems the Phantom Thieves were in right, somehow." Blake commented.

"Perhaps we can probably asked them when we meet them in person?" Pyrrha assume.

Weiss said nothing as she went to bed herself. "Whelp, only one way to find out. G'night, guys." Yang stated as she went to bed as well.

Ruby followed them afterwards as she then went charge her scroll, only to see the red symbol again. "Huh...? _Wait, I'm pretty sure I deleted this..."_ Ruby though to herself as she deleted the app again. _"I hope this isn't some virus..."_ She sighed as she went to bed.

* * *

8/01 **Shujin Academy** Afternoon

After another session at the school, the group were about to head to a meeting point as Seta begged to differ. "B-But we were gonna have a nice time at the movies nearby!" Seta said in a sad expression.

"Okaa-san, since when?" Yu asked in a questionable expression with him and the other giving a sweat-drop.

"Um... uh..." Seta stuttered as she rolled her eyes left and right.

"Yeah, we sorta had plans already, Professor. Yu and the others were gonna show around the city. Sorry." Ruby reassured as Seta moped.

"Hey don't worry about it, Narukami-sensei, uh... you still gonna treat us to dinner or something?" Yosuke suggested.

"Only because it's mandatory and my responsibility to feed my students." Seta sighed. "I suppose I do have some paperwork to deal with... I'll see you all later..." She walked back into the school with dishearten depression.

"Somehow, I feel sorry for your mother." Ren sympathized as Yu nodded in response.

"At any case, I don't suppose you have a way to meet those thieves, do you?" Weiss questioned the topic at hand.

"Yeah, it's at the same place guys you been to." Yosuke answered as he and Yu guided them to their destination.

* * *

Back at the principle's office, Makoto guided Seta to the office once more. "Will that be all that you need from me, Principle?" Makoto asked.

"Yes, you are dismissed for today." The Principle stated as Makoto bowed and took her leave. Soon as she left out of their sight, Seta turned to the principle with a stern expression.

"Are you still insistent on asking my students? You do realize I still cannot permit that." Seta recalled.

"But the matter of the fact is that the Phantom Thieves are still a threat. Have you consider the fact that they might become a dangerous group? We need to strike them down before they do so!" Kobayakawa stated.

"The fact remains is that Huntsman are elite warriors that will take jobs of their choosing. Huntsman or Huntress would not be tied to a specific Kingdom under the Vytal treaty, you know? In the end, it all depends whether they choose to help you or not." Seta reminded him as the principle groaned in discomfort.

"That is not exactly the right words I wanted to hear." The principle sighed heavily.

"It can't be helped." Seta commented as she then thought of something. "Wait, you say they're a bunch of ruffians, but are you so into the Phantom Thieves? They shouldn't be no concern to you, don't you think you should be grateful for ridding a pervert out of your school?"

Kobayakawa immediately stood up showing a hint of anger. "They are a nuisances that blackmailed one of my finest teachers-"

"They chased out a disbarred Black Fang member. And why would you hire a wretched imp like him when he was already kicked out of the guild? All you did was hired a punk who repeatedly abused your students physically, and you think that would fall under anyone's gaze?" Seta exclaimed as she stood her ground. "Principle Kobayakawa, you're not giving me any reason for me to help you and your students are suffering because of that. Regrettably, those Phantom Thieves are doing a better job at executing their justice and all you did was suppressing your students with a man who wasn't suppose to be practicing his lessons. My answer remains the same, I hope you understand."

"..." The Principle said nothing as Seta took her leave. He then covered his head with sweating bullets. "Dammit..." He stuttered as he then look to his phone.

* * *

8/01 **Black Fang Headquarters** Afternoon

Behind an alleyway where no one was looking, the group were waiting for Yu and Yosuke in order to guide them to meet the Phantom Thieves. "So... why are we in an empty alleyway, again?" Nora asked.

"Well, Weissy-chan wanted to meet those Phantom Thieves, right? But they aren't exactly what you guys call random run-of-the-mill thieves." Yosuke answered.

"Then... how do we exactly meet them?" Ruby asked.

"Simple, we enter the Black Fang from another way." Yu answered.

"Another way? Like a back entrance?" Yang assumed.

"It's not like that." Yosuke stated as he pulled his cell scroll out.

"What are you doing?" Weiss questioned.

"You'll see soon enough." Yosuke assured as one press on an app started to distort the area around.

"Huh? Wait, wha-" Yang stuttered as they group vanished from reality.

* * *

As the distortion faded, everyone were all wondering what happened. "Wait... what happen... guys, your clothes!" Nora exclaimed as she pointed to them.

They look to each other as they all wore different costumes.

"What the... where did these clothes came from!?" Chie staggered. She looked like some Temple Monk with her green-colored attire with a circlet with a feather tuck to its side with covering her eyes.

Yukiko wore a red and white combat Kimono, more traditional than her original combat attire with a white mask to match her outfit. "Oh my...!"

"The hell!?" Kanji exclaimed as he searched himself of the armor he's wearing. Kanji had black metal plating equipped on him, and had painting on that looked like bones with a skull on his face covering his eyes.

Blake donned a ninja chainmail set with a similar designed mask.

Pyrrha had a red valkyrie set which included a visor with a flower on it as well.

Teddie on another hand... only had a eye mask covering his eyes, everything else is his costume.

Yang wore a fiery set of armor along with a mask with horns on it. "Okay, what the heck? I don't... remember putting this armor on..." She recalled as she, too, checked herself.

"Yeah, it's weird, it was like ours when we entered this place before." Jaune mentioned as he, Ruby, and Weiss briefly told them what happened when the came here the other day.

"Ooh...! So you were telling us the truth!" Nora exclaimed. "But wait, how come we don't have those cool-looking outfits?" She asked. She and Ren were the only ones who don't have a costume.

"We're not sure. I can assume that its because you guys don't have your Personas, yet?" Yosuke assumes.

While Ren and Nora nodded in confirmation, Teddie peeked around the corner as he saw the castle. "Uhh... guys... What happened to the guild place?" He asked.

When the group walked out of the alleyway, they saw what Yu and Ruby described as a oriental castle. "Wait a second, that's the castle you guys mentioned!? Chie exclaimed.

"A castle that oriental in a middle of a modern city? Yep." Jaune nodded.

"The hell's goin' on? The guild's suppos'ta be a tall building and all, but why the hell's a castle?" Kanji questioned.

"You guys haven't told them, huh?" A voice rung out as Morgana appeared around the castle wall. "And I honestly thought that there would be less of your friends, Raiden." He recalled as he approached them, much to there surprise.

"Wh-Whoa! What the hell is that thing!?" Chie staggered.

"Is it a Grimm!?" Ren questioned as he readied Stormflower

"Kill it with fire!" Nora yelped as she wielded Magnhild.

"Wh-What!? wait a second!" Morgana staggered as Yu and Ruby stood in their friends way.

* * *

"So... your with those rumored Phantom Thieves?" Blake reminded after the explanation.

"That's right." Morgana sighed. "Again, you did promise us reinforcements, but I wasn't expecting a big company, Raiden." He said, turning to Yu.

"Raiden?" Ruby repeated.

"It's a code name he's using and I'm called Kaze." Yosuke mentioned. "We're acting a part-time Phantom Thieves so we aren't allowed to use our real names."

"We had them use code name for a precaution. There no telling what would happen what the cognition in there will do if you use yell real names. Besides, what kinda of Phantom Thief would I be?" Morgana retorted.

"But why are you guys into this? Those Phantom Thieves are causing an up roar back in the real world." Weiss questioned back.

"There's a good reason we're helping them." Yu reassured. "These palaces are a problem and we need to take them down."

"The Palaces?" They wondered.

"One could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place a 'Palace.'" Morgana told them. "It's a manifestation of 'distortion', strong negative and corrupt thoughts that warp the perceptions of people into a hazard for themselves and others."

"Strong negative thoughts, huh? Sorry, but I fail to see how that relates to the Phantom Thieves..." Weiss denied.

"Of course you wouldn't understand." Morgana sighed. "Surely you guys know what Shadows are?"

"Shadows? Oh, you're talking about those shadows?" Teddie assumed. "Whoa! Now that I smell it, there's a whole bunch coming from that place!"

"Yeah, now I'm more confused, what's wrong with the palace place anyways?" Yang demanded.

"It's just as we mentioned, The Phantom Thieves are stopping corrupted adults. You guys watched the new recently, about those guys who turned themselves in?" Yosuke explained as he asked.

"Those guys on the news? Buncha' shitheads who use people, yeah?" Kanji recalled.

"The Phantom Thieves goes in to their palaces and steal their important object of theirs and their real self in reality will change their cognition, their view of things." Yu told them.

"This castle is what Gaius views that HQ. Though the real Gaius doesn't realize what goes on in there, it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. It'll natually impact him if it disappears."

"What do you mean 'if' the castle disappears...?" Yukiko asked.

His desires would disappear, zapped away like it was never there. A palace is a manifestation of a person's distorted desires. This is our method to force the palace owner to have a change of heart." Morgana explained as Yu silently looked away pondering in concern. "

"Distorted desires? What, is he becoming a bad guy?" Jaune wondered.

"Well, even though their warped wants dissappear, the crimes committed will remain. Yet, that's reason why we're looking into it, right now. From what I heard that guy has been doing a good job at doing his job. We just looked up his name and it got a hit." Morgana mentioned. "One my subordinates used an app, the 'Meta-Nav' he called it, on a mistaken whim and we came to find out that he has a palace. Also, Raiden wanted to personally assist in our infiltration." He looked to Yu as he scratched his head.

"Gaius-sensei is bedridden back in reality, but his palace is up for some reason. Which is why I want to looking the palace, to see if there something wrong with him." Yu stated as he then looked to his friends and bowed. "Can I ask for your guys assistance?" He requested.

Yu's friends wondered, as this still left them with more questions. "So what will have to do? I mean there has to be risks." Ruby asked as Yu stood back up.

"Our objective is mainly to steal the treasure from these palaces. That will erase the palace along with the person's distorted desires."

"Is there more to it than stealing the so-called treasure?" Ren assumed.

"Indeed. You all know desires are what we all need in order to survive, right? The will to sleep, eat, to fall in love-those sorts of things." Morgana mentioned. If all those yearnings were to vanish, they's be no different than someone who has shut down entirely. They may die if they're not given proper care." He mentioned as everyone staggered upon knowing what the cat meant.

"Wait, are you saying they might die!?" Blake exclaimed upon revelation.

"Why does everyone keep jumping to conclusions every time I say something?" Morgana sighed.

"Whoa, hey guys calm down! They aren't murderers!" Yosuke reassured. "Besides, the method they're using isn't gonna kill them!"

"Well, you guys better explain!" Weiss demanded.

"During our previous infiltrations, we discovered that they won't suffer a mental shutdown even if their palaces disappears. All we need to do is to persuade the Ruler's Shadow without killing it, and send it back to its real self. Our targets haven't underwent a cognitive collapse. That's all!" Morgana explained.

"Think of this like facing your shadows. Persuading you guys as you accept your shadow, remember?" Yosuke reminded.

"OH! So there's no killing then? That's a ber-lief!" Teddie sighed.

"I guess I can still go for breaking legs." Nora sighed with relief as the other sweat-dropped.

"I... guess I say for all of us that well help you guys out. We still have questions that you'll have to tell us, okay?" Yang asked.

"Hold up! If you're all going to help us out, your all gonna need code names." Morgana mentioned.

"Oh right, you said something about that." Ruby recalled.

"Please, that's so childish." Weiss scoffed at the idea.

"So what if it is?" Morgana retorted. "Again, there's no telling what would happen what the cognition in there will do if you yell out real names. We already have Raiden and Kaze here." He point to Yu and Yosuke respectively.

"Code names, huh..." Chie pondered as she then got one. "Then... I'll go with Chan!"

"Uh... Chan?" They wondered.

"Yeah, it's part of a name of a famous martial artist that's on some movie films I've watched, he's really that good!" Chie assured.

"Then I'll go as Sakura. If anything it's all about our outfits wouldn't it?" Yukiko suggested.

"Ohh, so what about me?" Teddie asked as they all looked to him.

"What name can we use...?" Yosuke wondered.

"Anything that represents who he is, I guess...? Would Ursa count?" Yu wondered.

"I don't know about that, we might end up confusing him with the real Grimm." Yang denied as they all agreed.

"... Anything that represents who he is...? Well I got nothing, why not have him go as Kuma?" Chie suggest.

"Meh, that'll do." Yosuke agreed.

"Then Kuma it is!" Teddie cheered.

"So what should I be?" Kanji asked eagerly.

"How about thug?" Morgana suggested as the cat took a good look at him, with Kanji irritant.

"The hell, you picking a fight with me?!" Kanji exclaimed angrily, bu then cooled off. "Grr... when it comes down to me, it all comes down to the mask I'm wearin'! How 'bout Skull?" He suggested.

"No, that code name's already taken." Morgana told them as Kanji grunted. "How about Bones. You do show more of them than our Skull.

Kanji: "Tch, fine...!"

"You guys are really into this aren't you?" Weiss wondered with disappointment.

"So what about us? What should we be called?" Yang asked.

"I call the for the code name Saber." Blake voted much to Weiss surprise.

"Sure! And you shine more than anyone sis. Oh! Why not Blaze?" Ruby asked with Yang giving a thumbs up and Blake nodding.

"Ooh, can I go as Knight?" Jaune suggested.

"After that scuffle, you think a rookie like you is brave enough?" Morgana wondered.

"At least... why not Rook? A reference to a chess piece?" Pyrrha suggested.

"Oh, great idea, Pyrrha! So what about you?" Jaune asked.

"Hmm... an elegant, beautiful warrior. Perhaps a powerful lady warrior might work." Morgana referred.

As they wondered what code name to use for Pyrrha, Ren steps in. "The name Freya, I heard in storybooks that she's some goddess in some lore..."

"Oh... thank you!" Pyrrha said with gratitude.

"So... what about Ruby?" Yang asked as they turned to the young huntress.

"Y'think red's good?" Kanji guessed.

"No, a real jerk calls me that." Ruby denied.

"Rose?" Ren suggested.

"That's my last name!" Ruby denied again.

"Ugh, Rouge, let's go with Rouge. It's another word for Red." Weiss sighed heavily.

"Weiss...?" Ruby said as she turned to her.

"I don't care anymore. As long as you all address me as Blanc, I have no objections..." Weiss stated with a annoyed expression, much to some chuckling from others.

"So then, what will we be? Ren asked.

"I'll be... uhh..." Nora stuttered as she ponders what she should be called.

"You guys don't have your Personas yet, don't you? That would mean your outfit hasn't materialized, yet, either." Morgana mentioned.

"Our Personas? The spirits of our own selves, in other words?" Ren assumes.

"Pretty much. When a Persona User intents on opposing a palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, their outfit manifests. It's to prevents them from being affected by distortions." Morgana explains.

"But mostly all of us have our outfits already, and only some of us have been in that place. What's up with that?" Yang asked point at Yu, Yosuke, Ruby, Weiss, and Jaune.

"Well, obviously the Ruler pretty much considers anyone a threat. That's all." Morgana stated. "Your guy's appearance reflects your inner self, a rebellious aspect of yourself that slumber within.

"Hmm... I suppose we don't have our Personas yet." Ren figured.

"Raiden, are you sure this is a good idea to bring those two? I don't think they're exactly fit to infiltrate the palace." Morgana singled Ren and Nora out.

"What? We're more than just fit, we're combat ready." Nora complained as she wielded Magnhild in it's hammer form and Ren holding his Stormflowers.

"Well... alright. You guys are responsible for them, just so you know." Morgana told them as they nodded in response. "Follow me, there's a entrance that me and my friends used on the way in." He mentioned as he guided the group there.

Commencing Infiltration!

* * *

 **A/N: Okay... I'm gonna stop there, I've already delayed this chapter enough. So anyways I'm starting Gaius's palace and I have an idea to the depth of his palace will be. He like the character in the Tales of Xillia, but a Faunus with a strong code of honor or something. His palace will not be like the rest of the palaces in the original game and might uncover his memories that relates to his treasure.**

 **As for Ren and Nora's code name, I have both Lotus or Genji for Ren, but which one? And Nora's code name still eludes me... And I already covered their Persona already, btw.**

 **Rise and Naoto are still tending to their duties elsewhere, so no navigation at the time being.**

 **Omake skit!**

* * *

One Shot, One Pill

At the Hotel they were staying at, Ken was trying to feed Koromaru so medicine yet he refuses as spits it out. "Koromaru, you gotta take your medicine." Ken demanded as he tries again, stuffing the pill into his mouth, yet he spit it out again.

"Koromaru still refuses." Aigis translated.

"Ugh, come on Koromaru, this stuff more expensive than anything I take." Ken groaned. "What'll convince you to eat the pill?" He sighed.

"Hey Ken! You still trying to feed your dog like a reverse-piñata?" Yang asked.

"This is his monthly medicine and still spits it out." Ken answered.

"Koromaru-san says it tastes awful." Aigis continued.

Yang chuckled as she approached Koromaru. "Well hey, maybe I can try something. There a method me and my sis use to give Zwei his pills." She mentions as she pets Koromaru.

"Like mixing the pills into his dish to masked the bitter flavor?" Ken assumes.

"That's so primitive. No it's not that. Let me demonstrate." " Yang chuckled again as she picks up Koromaru. "Koromaru, you are a loved and valued member of his family and they need to take action so that you can live your best life." She told Koromaru with a warm aura as placed the dog on the table. Koromaru barked with a hint of joy.

"He thanks you for the compliment, but he claims that he still refuse to take the pill." Aigis stated.

"Yang-senpai, are you sure that's going to work?" Ken asked with a questioned expression.

"Nope, that's was suppose to distract him." Yang replied as she took out her scroll with Ken, Aigis, and Koromaru giving off question marks on their heads. "Now! Take the shot!" She exclaimed as the other had both question marks and exclamation marks above their heads, immediately noticing a target mark where Koromaru was sitting.

Elsewhere at far off distance, zooming out of the window where the four were at, Ruby loads a pill into her Crescent Rose and aims at Koromaru. "One shot, one pill..." *Bang* Ruby fires the pill as it zips across a long distant as it shoot directly through the window and into Koromoru's mouth as he swallows the pill instantly, much to the baffled group with exclamation marks on them.

"Direct hit! I repeat, direct hit!" Yang declared.

 _"Did you see that!?"_ Ruby exclaimed with excitement over the scroll.

"What the... Wow, I never thought you guys were that sneaky, that's impressive." Ken stated.

"Yeah, you should see how we sneak a peek at our birthday presents early every year." Yang bragged as she pets Koromaru as Ken and the dog sweat-dropped.

"Koromaru recommends mixing the medicine into my dish next time." Aigis stated.

Ken: "Y-Yeah..."

"Hey! What the hell are you guys doing!?" Said a voice of the person walking over.

"The manager of the hotel." Aigis stated as the others staggered.

"I allowed you kids your pets in, but using weapons in my hotel!? Seta will have an earful for this." The Hotel manager declared as he marched off.

"Uh oh...!" Yang stuttered as she immediately pulls her scroll back out again. "Secondary target! Take the shot Ruby, take the shot!" She commanded.

"Wh-what did you say- gack!" The Hotel manager took a tranquilizer to back as he then dozed of and passed out on the floor.

"Whew, close one. Now let's find something for him to nap shall we?" Yang suggested as she dragged the manager off, leaving Ken and Koromaru baffled.

"Yeah, next time will mix the medicine in your meals..." Ken suggested otherwise as Koromaru barked in agreement.

* * *

Dodgeball Warzone

A while back at the School grounds at Beacon Academy, the students were playing Dodgeball. Turns out Aigis and Penny were on opposing teams and they were literally taking it too far. Craters all over, students out cold on the ground, and Aigis and Penny were launching balls at each other, while beaming others in the crossfire. "Dude! Was this a good idea to invite them!? They're destroying the school!" Yosuke questioned Ruby and Minato.

"Uhh... I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ruby stuttered in denial, despite knowing her guilt of inviting Penny as she threw a ball at Aigis as she evaded it as the ball slammed Kanji, punting him out of the area.

"Oh it's fine." Minato assured care-freely. "Nothing like a little havoc to wake us up." He said as Aigis launched a pair of balls back, as Penny evaded a ball and caught the other one as the first ball hit Jaune in the face, causing him to pass out from the painful blast.

"Target acquired. Firing!" Aigis stated monotonously while tossing more balls at her opponent.

"Engaging evasive maneuvers!" Penny stated as she dodges the balls. The stray dodgeballs then wiped out the rest of their teammates and it was all one one from there.

Looking around, the whole area was completely cluttered with holes and balls paved into the ground and walls, even the students that were stucked from the balls were down for the count. Ruby and Minato continued watching Aigis and Penny still going at it. "... I'm sure it's fine." Minato reassured plainly as Ruby sweat-dropped.

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there -** **Shoji Meguro, Lyn Inaizumi**


	5. Gaius's Palace Part I

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **Gaius's Palace: Portrait of Memory**

7/31 **Distorted Black Fang Headquarters** Afternoon

As the Shadows roam the halls of the castle, Morgana peeked out of behind the corridor watching the patrolling shadow walking away, soon Raiden and Rouge above the cat peeked out. "Is he gone?" Rouge asked.

"Seems like it." Raiden assumed.

"... We can tried even more quietly if you guys cut the chatter more often!" Morgana quietly exclaimed as he turned to his back. The group behind him, with the huntsmen in toll, we bickering and were not trying hard enough to be discreet. "We'll draw too much attention if you guys keep fooling around!"

"The hell!? We can't help it!" Bones exclaimed quietly. "We're all clearly a sitting duck!

"Yeah... we are kind of too clustered for an infiltration." Saber agreed.

"So what now, Morgana? How are we going to proceed?" Blanc questioned in contempt.

"Address me as 'Mona' in the palaces!" Mona demanded followed by a sigh. "Ugh, I shouldn't of told my real name in the first place..."

"I guess the cat's out of the bag, right?" Blaze joke with only Sakura giggling as everyone else sweat-dropped.

"... Anyways, keep it down. I am not about to draw any-" Although Mona's explanation was cut short when he turned around to see a Shadow staring them down. "Oh hell!"

 **"I-Intruder- guh!"** The shadow stammered as Mona jumped on it and ripped the guard's mask off. Initiating combat

* * *

 ***Last Surprise**

"We're too cramped for all of us to fight these, 3 of you guys in front, now!" Mona commanded as the Shadow took form. Everyone was raring up for a fight, but complied as Raiden, Rouge, and Rook stepped forth. The Shadows took form as a pair of Ascended Feline.

"H-Huh!? Since when do Shadows take form of their own!?" Kuma questioned.

"I can happen in these palaces. Stay on your toes!" Mona exclaimed as he summons Zorro, blasting **Magarula** through the corridor with the Shadows evading the strike and lunge towards them. Rook stepped in and guarded Rouge from the incoming strike and Raiden immediately summons Izanagi Picaro and casts **Ziodyne** , zapping the other Ascended Feline to dust.

While Rook has the remaining shadow attention, Rouge came up from his flank and attempted to strike the Shadow with followed up with a point-blank snipe shot but the Shadow evaded them both and casts a **Magaru** and causes Rook to stumble as Rouge, Raiden, and Mona held their ground.

Rouge then improvised with **Sukukaja** and zipped across the room to chase the Shadow, followed by lightning-charged dust bullet, staggering the Shadow as the huntsmen winds up for an all-out attack until... "Hold up!" Mona stated.

"Wait, what? But that's a Shadow!" Rook reminded, a he stood back up.

"There's another way to make use of them besides defeating them." Mona explained. "Remember, Shadows are beings born from people's hearts, so naturally, they can talk too."

"What? But they're attacking us! Why would they want to talk to us?" Blanc questioned.

"You can still communicate with, you know?" Mona mentioned as he approached the shadow with a slingshot pointed at the downed shadow. "Now come on! Point your weapons at her! If we can get them cornered, they might offer money or items since they don't want to die. Besides talking has a better chance of scoring something great as opposed to just offing them."

With no questions asked and doubts holding them both, Raiden had his Persona pin down the Shadow's loose cloth while Kaze held out several shurikens at the ready in both hands, between his fingers. Rouge and Rook looked reluctant and pointed Crocea Mors and Crescent Rose respectively.

 ***Talk**

 **"N... Nyaa!?"** The Shadow stuttered as she looks up to the Huntsmen with their weapons draw upon her. **"Hiss... you guys really are assassins that Lord Gaius informed us about! And a bunch of them, too!"** It growled.

"Well, that pretty much sums it up, excluding the 'assassin' part." Mona scoffed.

 **"Grr... you can't fool me! Now what do you what do you want to do to me!?"** The Shadow questioned.

"Go on, try request something from it." Mona turned to Rouge.

"Uhh..." Rouge was stuttering on what to say to this, an enemy suppressed to her judgement. It felt really uncomfortable to say the least, yet she went along with it. "You got any money?" She asked as the others on the sidelines all sweat-dropped.

 **"Money? You would spare me for some pocket change?"** The Shadow questioned.

"Something down those lines... Now let it be money or items.. or your life!" Mona declared as he pulls back the band of his slingshot.

The Shadow's expression turns grim as she slowly looks away. **"As if I can use any on-duty..."** It grunted.

"Of course... Shadows may have and don't it's really unfortunate, but you'll have to go to hell. No hard feelings." Mona declared, much to the group's surprise, even the Shadow's expression turned for the worst.

"What!? Hold on a sec!" Rouge stuttered. "Don't you think your going a little to far with this?" She asked.

"Hate to say it, but we ARE in a hurry. Just think of the Shadow as just another Grimm.

"But this whole thing feels wrong!" Rouge retorted.

"The chances of it alerting the others is awfully high if we let her go. Unless you got another idea?" Mona assumed as he disarms his slingshot.

Rouge stepped forward with a question in mind. "What's this about us being assassins?" She asks.

"Oh! You're pressing information?" Mona realized as he watches her in the interrogation.

 **"O-Our lord was attacked but a shadowy assailant couple days back and we've been on alert ever since that day, nya."** The Nekomata stated.

"That's right, he suffered a mental shutdown..." Raiden mentioned. "I'm certain he's going to be okay."

 **"... For a bunch of assassins you guys aren't as cold... Are you really assassins?"** The Shadow asked.

"We're not assassins!" Rouge exclaimed.

"That's right, we only came to figure out what transpired to Gaius-sensei." Raiden told the shadow. "Will you lend us your strength?" He asked.

 **"Mew... I suppose I could..."** The Shadow muttered reluctantly, until it donned on itself. **"Wait... Nya'I just remembered something!"** It exclaimed as it began to glow bright blue. **"I'm no Shadow of this place, I came from the sea of the human soul... I am Nekomata. May my powers be of use."** Nekomata addressed itself as it morphed brightly into what looks like a mask as it flew right into Rouge's face, pushing her down as the blue flame dispersed.

It seems the battle ended.

* * *

The group gathered towards Rouge afterwards as she stood back up in confusion. "Wh-what was that!? Why did that..." She asked with stutter.

"H-Huh!? Did Rouge ate that cat bad guy?" Nora questioned with surprise.

"She has that same power like Joker and Raiden?" Mona stated. "So you can use multiple Personas as well?"

"She is the of leader of her own Team after all. No surprise to what Young Sensei can do!" Kuma affirmed.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that. Is it that good?" Rook asked.

"Of course it is! Only one heart exist per person, so normally a person can only have one Persona!" Mona answered. "To think I can see another person with the same power, and a young girl to boot." He commented.

"Still, I never thought we could talk to the shadows like that. Most of the Shadows we off'ed didn't seem like talking to us at all." Kaze commented.

Chan: "You're telling me."

"So then your methods wasn't like this case before?" Freya asked.

"It was all slaying Shadows and my partner just uses multiple Personas all the way. Not sure how he uses different Personas but it helps either way." Kaze explains their part.

"I don't know Raiden's methods or wherever you got that power, but if it can help us with this infiltration, the more better we can survive. Alright enough chit-chat. We're still exposed out so let's-" Mona suggested until he was interrupted when another Shadow appeared before them. "Are you kidding me!?"

 **"What the- You bastards-!"** *Smack* Just then, Blaze jumped in and smashed the Shadow's face in as started to take form.

"My turn!" Blaze declared as Saber and Blanc followed with Rouge back up front once more.

* * *

 ***Last Surprise**

The Shadow took on the appearance of the Bringer of Misfortune as Rouge, Saber, Blaze, and Blanc stepped forth. "You're mine!" Blaze shouted as she charges in for a punch, but when her fist connected the force of her own fist bounced her back, leaving the Shadow unaffected. "W-What!?"

"Looks like that Shadow is immune to physical attacks!" Mona stated from the sidelines. "You'll have to use something with elemental skills!"

"Elemental skills? In that case... come Shiva!" Blanc exclaimed as she ripped her mask off, as Shiva blasted, **Mabufula** , showers of sharp ice needles upon the Bringer of Misfortune, dealing moderate damage.

The Shadow retaliate with a **Taunt** upon Blaze, causing her to become increasingly annoyed by the Shadow. "Oh, is that so!?" Blaze exclaimed with her eyes flashing red as she charged towards the Shadow.

"Blaze, wait!" Saber warned but Blaze couldn't listen as she raged upon the Shadow as she could leave a dent on the Shadow.

"An enemy skill that causes someone to enrage, she won't calm down for a bit." Mona stated. "Does anyone have a recovery skill **Enradi** or something?

"I think I have something in mind." Saber stated, while she then ripped her mask off, summoning Cait Sith. " **Tentarafoo!** " She commanded as her Persona tossed a bomb-like object that exploded onto the Shadow leaving it disoriented.

The Shadow then started to flail its arms in hopes to strike down its enemies, so far the Persona Users were able to evade the strikes, even Blaze, who was still pissed off. "Rrrrraaaaaaahh! Had enough!?" Blaze roared.

"Oh geez, do we really not have anything to calm her down?" Mona winced.

"I... think I got something..." Rouge answered as she took a moment to recall a Persona in mind. "Sati!" She summons the Persona as it snapped it's fingers causing Blaze to regain her senses upon hearing.

"Ugh... whoa... thanks for that..." Blaze groaned with a thumbs up while rubbing her head with her other hand.

"No rest for the weary just yet!" Saber exclaimed with her Persona out. "Let's see if you aren't just for show, Cait Sith!" She commanded with Cat Sith casting the skill **Skull Cracker** as Cait Sith fazed around the Shadow followed by the Persona slashing its claws onto the side of the Shadow's head, causing it to increase its confusion further and the Persona then casts **Psio** , as the blast of cyan, magenta, yellow flare was inflicted upon the Shadow, causing it more damage to it.

The Shadow started to stagger in a limped state. "We have it in our hands, keep pressing it down!" Mona declared as they four continued their attacks.

With Blaze regaining her composure, she then followed through by ripping her mask off, summoning Ifreeta as it shoots **Maragion** fireballs, blasting the Shadow all over, yet the Shadow still remains standing. "That guy's one tough cookie..." Blaze snarled as she reloads Ember Celica.

"It's almost down! Weiss, ready?" Rouge turned to her teammate.

"Address me as Blanc!" Blanc demanded as she had Shiva readied a **Concentrate** d **Bufula** , puncturing the Shadow as it soon dissipated afterwards, ending the battle there after.

"Well, what went relatively easy." Blaze commented as Mona sighed, thus ending the battle.

* * *

Afterwards, the rest of the group gather together as they check their surroundings. "Simple enough." Saber agreed.

"Unbelievable, don't you guys have any talent for stealth?" Mona questioned.

"What's your deal? We've dealt with worst shit that these punks!" Bones retort.

"We're in the middle of a palace that's filled with Shadows ready to surround us. We can't afford to run wild and make so much noise!" Mona exclaimed back.

"Why not? We've always rushed through these dungeons and destroy our enemies all the time." Chan pointed out.

"Are you serious? Raiden, please tell me she's joking!" Mona begged.

Raiden shrugged otherwise. "Yeeaaahh... it's kinda exactly what Chan said. We are originally Huntsmen after all." Raiden said back.

"I've should've known..." Mona groaned with a pained expression. "Look, if we cause too much of a commotion and getting their attention, we'll never make any progress if we senselessly fight every shadow we face in front of us! We need to take a quiet approach in order to get to my gang's location." He told them.

"... You think those guys will allow us?" Nora pointed to the Shadow guards behind Mona as he turned to them with surprise.

"Oh COME ON!" Mona exclaimed loudly as the group engaged into a long skirmish.

(Cue opening)

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

After the skirmish, the group were all running from the Shadows chasing them with half of the group exhausted. "See?! I told you all we'd alert the Shadows!" Mona exclaimed while riding on Raiden's shoulder.

"We can't help it! We live to fight our enemies!" Rouge retorted while sprinting.

"Hey, we can't keep this up forever, we have to lose them, somehow!" Kaze reminded. "Hey Mona, any idea where we should go" He asked.

"They were heading into a special room nearby, I'll know where it is, just keep running!" Mona stated they all continued running away from the pursuing Shadows. They thought they could handle the coming Shadows but the corridor eventually became crowded to trapped them from the other side. They managed to break through the front and escape the pincer attack.

The Shadows continues to pursue the group as they turn to a corner. The Shadows followed them only see the group disappear, nothing but furniture through the long corridor. **"How the hell did we lose a group THAT big!?"** Yelled a Shadow guard.

 **"Never mind that, they can't be far, let's go!"** Another Shadow exclaimed as the group of Shadow guards continued onward, unbeknownst to them that the infiltrators were hiding behind the furniture as they passed through.

Soon as the last guard disappeared from the hallway, they eventually fell out of hiding. "T-That... was a close one..." Chan stuttered as she catches her breath.

"Yeah, unlike the Shadows we face outside, they mean bear business." Kuma huffed.

"That's why I told you guys to not draw any unwanted attention! We can't afford to pick fights if we can't secure the infiltration route to the treasure room!" Mona lectured as the students all had annoyed expressions on their faces.

"Geez, all you ever do is talk and talk. I don't see you do any better at sneaking around!" Blaze retorted.

"Oh you are NOT going there! I am a pro at this!" Mona retorted back. "Besides, my colleagues wanted to show you guys something, if you can even get there, and I'm busting my nine lives to bring you around. Look if you wanted to see what we're doing you best if you be MORE aware of your surroundings. And don't draw any more of the enemies attention." He sighed as he took point. "Follow me."

"I can't believe we're putting up with someone like him..." Blanc groaned as the others gave hints of laughing.

While they silently Mona lead the group to the room where the rest of the phantom thieves were at, although the door of the room on another hand seem too unique for the castle.

"Wait, is this the room you mentioned, why does the door look different?" Chan asked. The door mentioned, had a more plain gray door another than the castle's Shōji doors.

"This is where my group asked to meet up. Oddly, the object in the room holds an incredible distortion." Mona informed.

"So we goin' in?" Bones suggested as they all went in as Rouge stood in place, pondering something.

"Is something wrong, Rouge?" Raiden asked.

"Huh... Yeah, it's just... I think I've seen this door before... and it looks like the ones back at Beacon..." Rouge mentioned.

As Raiden was about to ask about it, their friends inside the room called out to them. "Hey! You might wanna see this!" Kaze beckoned as Rouge and Raiden went inside.

In the room they entered they see a portrait of an image that looks like the front of Beacon Academy. "Is... that our school?" Blaze realized.

"What's a portrait of Beacon doing in here...?" Rook wondered.

"Hmm... *sniff* *sniff* it certainly has a powerful smell. This painting is special somehow." Kuma mentioned after sniffing around it.

As they gazed upon the picture, Blanc scanned the rooms for the Phantom Thieves but none of them were around. "What's going on? I thought the Phantom Thieves would be here. Did you deceived us?!" Blanc questioned.

"I didn't! They were supposed to be here!" Mona deny as he approached the portrait of Beacon while sighing. "Don't tell me they went into the painting already!?"

"They... went into the painting?" Ren asked as Mona poked his paw onto the portrait as then sunk into the painting with ripples from Mona's arm, followed by everyone's surprise with exclamation marks above them.

"It went in!" Sakura exclaimed as Mona pulled his arm out.

"That's right. It seems there's more to this painting than we realized. And it seems there's something inside it too." Mona mentioned. My crew were planning on inspect the painting further, but we were caught up with you guys showing up." He pointed at Rouge, Blanc, and Rook.

"Ehehehe... We were sorta lost after all and... you know..." Rouge stuttered with a weak laugh.

"So... think we can go inside the painting?" Rook asked.

"We can. Just know that this is actually the first for us thieves, so we don't know what will go on in there." Mona mentioned.

"If it's anything like going into TV screen then this shouldn't a problem!" Nora reassured.

"And isn't your comrades in there as well? Shouldn't we worried about them?" Freya recalled.

"As long as you guys are that confidant." Mona sighed as he went into the painting.

"Aright everyone, one at a time!" Raiden declared as he went into the painting next. Soon after, everyone else went in too as the ripples on the painting faded flat.

* * *

Upon entering the painting, the group were all falling through a white and blue ripples as they were soon enveloped into a bright light. Soon after, the bright light faded out and the students open their eyes and they eventually realized where they are. "Huh? Are we... back at Beacon!?" Rouge exclaimed.

The were now on the school grounds of their School they're attending, yet everything was a little pale with lesser color compared to the students and their full-colored costumes.

"How did we get back at our school?" Blaze wondered.

"I doubt we're even back at this Beacon school. If I had guess... this might actually be a memory.

"A memory?" Ren asked.

"Hmm... Palaces are distorted desires that have materialized through strong negative and corrupt thoughts. That must be how this memory is connected to this palace. It's a part him, after all." Mona stated.

"Ya know, if your saying that this is a memory, I guess that explains how some of these huntsmen have more classic weapons with them." Rouge pointed at them. They see student huntsmen with ordinary weapons, unlike the group before them.

Even the people here, also with little color, were ignoring them, whether they're feigning ignorance or they aren't even seeing them. One person even went through Kuma, much to the groups surprise. "I guess were like ghosts in here, too?" Rouge assumed.

Saber then over heard something near the courtyard with her cat ears. "I hear something that's loud over there."

"Hmm...? Oh that's right! It's almost like some delinquent ranting about." Sakura added. They both guided their friends to the sound as they see another group in costumes that were also standing out among the pale atmosphere. "Hmm? Are they...?" Ren wondered. They approached the group an upon closer expectation, they realized who they were looking at; the Phantom Thieves.

"Joker! Everyone!" Mona exclaimed as he and the student Huntsmen approached them He wore a black ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, black jogger-style pants, brown-black winklepickers, and a pair of red gloves. His mask is a black and white, birdlike domino mask.. "I thought, I told you to wait outside in the room! What happened!?" He questioned.

"Skull happened." Said the girl in the red skin-tight catsuit with a matching red panther mask, cleavage cutout, zippers, pink gloves, dark red thigh-high boots and has a clipped on tail in the back.

"I'm telling you again, it was a friggin' accident!" Skull bluntly exclaimed angrily. His outfit was portrayed as a burglar outfit consists of matching black jacket and pants with knee pads, a red ascot, combat boots, a pair of yellow gloves, and a skull mask.

"I fathom how you 'trip' into the portrait is an accident." Another theif questioned in a refine disbelief. His outfit consists of a traditional kitsune-style half mask with his Faunus trait of Fox ears on top, a black high-collared, puff-sleeved jumpsuit with a white fox tail attached to a striped sash worn across his hips, white motorcycle boots, and bright blue gloves.

"You too, Fox? The hell you guys!" Skull continued to rebuked.

Then a female thief stepped in between Skull and Fox. "Ahem! I believe we still owe our new friends an explanation." Reminded the said thief as Skull looked away while scratching his head. The wore an outfit consists of a dark two-toned skintight suit that is worn with a long black scarf, a dark gray corset-style leather breastplate, shoulder and knee pads with spikes mixed with boots that sport metal heels and toes, white gloves, and an iron mask. "You certainly took a huge leap to bring your friends in, Raiden."

"They did wanted to meet you guys in person, Queen." Raiden as he introduced his friends.

"Well... I certainly wasn't expecting you guys to be the same students outside. You're those same students we saw at Shujin Academy, aren't you?" Blanc guessed, much to the Phantom Thieves surprise.

"The hell, you know who we are!?" Skull staggered.

"Who else could mistaken by that dyed blond hair of yours! Your Sakamoto, and she's Takamaki " Blanc mentioned as they flinched upon hearing their name, she then turned to Joker and Queen. "And how can I not notice Kurusu's frizzy hair, and your Niijima!"

"I suppose we can't help but fail to conceal our obvious giveaway." Queen sighed.

"Then what about me?" Fox recalled.

"You... um... who are you?" Blanc stuttered as she doesn't recognize him.

"Hey hey! We can play this guessing game later!" Mona exclaimed as he turned to Joker. "We have our reinforcements, but we're all in a predicament, aren't we?

"We were looking around for an exit and we notice Gaius taking a walk the corner this way." Joker explained.

"Are you referring to Shadow Gaius?" Kaze asked.

"We don't think so. The Gaius here... looks rather young than who we see today." Queen informed.

"A younger Gaius?" The Student Huntsmen questioned.

"Mona said this area, the Painting outside the place, is some sort of memory, is that right? Would this be Beacon Academy in the past?" Rouge guessed.

"Beacon Academy?" Skull asked.

"It's a school for Huntsman and Huntresses. We're actually attending a year right now in the Kingdom of Vale." Sakura explained.

"Oh! So you guys are the guys Raiden mentioned?" Skull said with enthusiasm.

"What do you think your doing!?" Someone yelled around the corner of the building, catching the Student Huntsmen and the Phantom Thieves attention. As the entire group rush over, the spotted a younger Gaius gripping his chest in pain as he was in heated confrontation with some other delinquents, being in between them and a pair of girls behind them.

"Out of my way you freak, we have a score to settle with her!" The Delinquent exclaimed as he pointed to the girls behind him, a teenager with grey short hair who was angrily fuming.

"[Bastard pricks! We're not you sex outlet!]" The gray-haired girl exclaimed. There was another girl with longer light brown hair behind her who was shivering while shedding tears, hiding behind the gray haired girl.

"Grh... What's this about sex? You intend to rape them!?" Young Gauis growled.

"Who cares! They can't speak English, so no one will ever know." The delinquent sadistically stated with a wicked smile until he notice something. "Wait, you what they're saying!?"

"Japanese. They aren't yours to conquer, you filthy mutts!" He exclaimed as he gave a burning stare at them.

"H-Hey, if the teachers heard-" Another delinquent staggered in fear.

"Then will have put this savage down!" The leading delinquent declared with an insane smile drawing his Mace weapon. His delinquent friends soon surrounded the three.

The group watched as they saw the disgusting display. "What the hell!? This is bullshit!" Skull exclaimed angrily.

"Bulling Faunus is one thing, but that... that's just crossing the line!" Saber exclaimed as some of the students were about to step in.

"Wait, stop! We can't do anything about this!" Mona exclaimed.

"But we can't just let them do what they want!" Saber retorted furiously.

"You already know that this is a memory, this isn't going to affect the real world!" Mona warned. "Besides, we can't interfere when we can't even make any contact with anyone here." He recalled as he walked near the upset Saber. "Why do you think this memory was place in the Palace in the first place? It must of held something valuable, than something traumatic than this."

"But still..." Saber grunted.

The conflict begin with a pair of delinquents flanked Young Gaius on both sides with thrusting their weapons on the sharp ends at Gaius, but the young Faunus countered back with deflecting both weapons away by using both hands as the delinquents stumbled afterwards. The one near the girls looked at them as the gray-haired girl stomped on the delinquent's face, rendering him unconscious.

"Hmm... pretty good." Raiden commented with confidence.

The other delinquent got back up and cling onto the Young Gaius as he struggle to break loose. "You inferior filth!" The leading delinquent growled as was about to strike the Faunus a round-house kick planted in his face as he was then flung away. The assailant was around their age and has black-hair with red hues and he wore a black blazer with straps tied near his elbow with black jeans with bastard sword sheathed to his back-waist. "You... Soul!" He roared with a strong glare to his silver eyes while pressuring the pain from his head.

"Dammit Winchester, that's drawing the line!" Soul exclaimed.

"What I do to this pest is not your concern. Now piss off, freak-lover!" Winchester exclaimed as he swings his mace before Soul as he didn't flinched back.

"Uhh, hey, I heard something about rape, is that true?" Soul whispered back to the young Gaius.

"What do you think?" Gaius mentioned as he pointed back at the girls behind him.

"I see your point." Soul nodded as he drew his bastard sword, deflecting the second swing from Winchester. He blocked and evaded several swings from him and knocked away the other delinquents until suddenly one of the delinquents caught him and held him and his arms in place. "Oh no...!" Soul stuttered with with frightful expression as he sees Winchester winding up his attack.

"I'll make sure he'll join you soon, freak-lover!" Winchester declared menancingly as he rushes in for the kill.

"You with the Silver eyes! Duck!" Young Gaius stated as Soul did as he was told, by ducking as the Faunus pulled the delinquent up from behind as he flipped the delinquent over the Silver-eyed student as Winchester's attack struct the delinquent instead, rolling away and then yelped from the pain of his spine that broke.

"That was... clever..." Blanc commented with good impression.

"Winchester... the hell, is that Cardin's old man!?" Bones realized.

"You know that shit-head!?" Skull exclaimed.

"Damn straight! He's the one responsible for killin' Faunus sympathizers in Vale. My team went to court and won against him." Bones mentioned.

Back with the memories, Soul and Gaius were eventually on a stalemate with the delinquents. "Good-for-nothing pestilence...! I'll make you wish you were never been born!" Winchester roared with his weapon ready.

"I like to see you try." Gaius muttered in response a he gripped his Katana, yet Soul held him back.

"Don't. Trust me on this." Soul whispered with confidence. Gaius groaned as he questioned what Soul had in mind, lowering his weapon.

"DIE-oof!" Winchester exclaimed as he ran towards Soul, only to trip on a purple-colored stone placed before him.

"What...?" Gaius muttered as Soul pointed to his left, as they saw Glynda Goodwitch with her riding crop, only that she had longer hair than the students saw before.

"What is the meaning of this!" Professor Goodwitch questioned.

Soul was about to explain the situation but Winchester ran to her limped to his knees. "That animal was about to rape those to angels!" He exclaimed as he points back at Gaius with terrified expression. "Me and my guys were-was trying to stop him and-and Soul got in our way! That filthy mongrel has to die!" He staggered with a crazed look.

Gaius looked to the pathetic person, he can see the malice emanating from that fool.

"It was actually the other way around, Professor." Soul pointed out.

"Don't listen to that freak-lover! He was also in on it!" Winchester continued to rant.

"Then why were you intent on killing him?" Another voice asked as they all see Headmaster Ozpin walking towards them. "If you wanted to help these fair ladies you could have reported him to the teacher. So why did you all took matters to your hands?" He asked as the delinquents said nothing and looked away. Ozpin then walked towards Soul, Gaius, and the pair of girls who were irritated and frighten respectively. "[Was there a problem with these students here?]" He asked, speaking in the language those girls knew, with the boys faced the headmaster.

"Wait, what did he say?" Soul asked.

"He's asking the girls about us." Gaius answered as he crossed his arms while the girls were explaining their story. "So he can speak Japanese, too..."

"[I understand, I'll make sure they're properly punished]" Ozpin reassured.

"[And... um... what about them...? They did their best to protect us.]" The shy girl asked as she point to Soul and Gaius.

The Headmaster looked to them with confidence. "[That is one of the duty of all huntsmen, as to what my is Academy is meant to nurture. I'll make sure they're rewarded for this act.]" Prof. Ozpin rest assured as he turned to the delinquents. "Mr. Winchester, I would like to see you and your friends in my office immediately."

Winchester: "What!? B-but what about-"

"I know what you tried to do and your friends are your accomplices. I am a teacher, after all. Now please don't make a scene." Ozpin demanded while tapping his cane on the ground with a sound tap as Winchester and the other delinquents gritted their teeth as they followed the headmaster. Winchester couldn't do anything but glare back at Soul and Gaius with strong animosity towards them both.

"That was certainly a close call, Mr. Rose." Glynda turned to Soul as he scratches his head.

"Mr... Rose?" The Persona Users wondered.

"Yeah... too close. We might of had to defend ourselves, and that would be a pain..." Soul sighed. "Thanks for your help, T.A."

"Well, I certainly expect you to be a model student from here on." T.A. Glynda stated as she followed after the Headmaster.

"... T.A.?" Gaius wondered

"Teacher Assistant. So you guys from another Kingdom? Never seen you guys before." Soul answered as he turned to face the three. "The name's Soul Rose."

"My name is Gaius Erston. We're from the Kingdom of Japan. Unfortunately they are still working on their English." Gaius replied as he translated for the female students. "The tough and prideful one is Seta Dojima and shy one in Nei Yuuki." He introduced them as Seta nodded and Nei bowed formally.

As the girls were saying their appreciations, Soul can do was tilt his head question what they were saying. "... Uhh... what?" Soul asked with a confused expression.

The Persona Users all but watch and speculate. "So this is a memory of how he met his teammates?" Rouge guessed.

"And Mr. Erston was a student at Beacon, too?" Rook added as took a closer look at his teammates and recognizes Seta. "Hey, Raiden, doesn't she look like your mom?"

"That... IS my mom... It's actually hard to believe, she was never that serious..." Raiden nodded.

"Looks like we're having story here, a bear-meet-girl story here!" Kuma giggled

"Not to mention the person name Soul Rose. Doesn't he look like Rouge?" Ren pointed out.

"That's... wait... he looks like my Father...!" Raiden realized, much to the other's surprise.

"Dude... your old man!?" Skull exclaimed.

"Huh... you did said that your parents work overseas as Huntsmen, but isn't this guy's name Soul Rose? Wouldn't he be Ruby's dad or something?"

"No, Our dad is more blond than that... then again, I think I saw that guy before..." Blaze mentioned.

"... Oh, do you think Soul may be some lost uncle we've never heard about?" Chan wondered.

"Okay, I think we are getting off track here, we've watched memory but now we need to find a way out of here." Mona reminded.

"That's right. We can talk more when we head back out, but right now..." Queen followed but then a giant Grimm-looking Shadow roared through out the schoolyard.

"Whoa, we've got company!" Kaze exclaimed as the Shadow slammed its hand onto the ground, causing a rip into a white empty space out, splitting the majority of the group away from the Shadow, leaving Joker, Rouge, Skull, and Panther to fend against the Shadow itself.

"Joker!" "Sis!" Mona and Blaze exclaimed.

 ***Keeper of Lust**

"You okay?" Joker asked Rouge as they found themselves against the Shadow while the others are barred on the other side of the ripped reality. "What's happening!?"

"That Shadow... It's ripping through the painting!?" Mona exclaimed as the Shadow slipped into this world and took form of a Demonic Warrior.

* * *

The Shadow glare upon Rouge with its red eyes. **"SOUL! YOU WILL DIE FOR YOUR INTERFERENCE!"** It shouted as it **Charge** d itself up

"Wha-What!?" Rouge staggered as Joker and Skull stepped forward.

"Like hell you're gonna get to her!" Skull declared as he pulled his mask off with both of his hands. "Blast'em, Captian Kidd!" He called forth his Persona, taking form of a sinister-looking pirate standing on a ship with eyes and teeth in front. It shot a **Zionga** lightning beam at the Shadow, pushing it back from attacking Rouge.

While the giant Shadow narrowed its focus on the four Persona Users, Kuma then notices Shadow appearing from the rip and stood before the rest of the Persona Users, along with Ren and Nora. "Eek! More Shadows incoming!" Kuma panicked.

"Don't forget about me! Carmen!" Panther shouted as she rips her mask off. Her Persona, Carmen takes form as an Alluring dancer, with roses on her hips adorned on her flashy red dancing attire, not to mention the Persona was pressing down a person with a heart-shaped head with one of its stilettos. Carmen follows up by casting **Agilao** upon flicking its fingers, blasting the exploding fireball at the Shadow.

"We can count on Rouge and Joker to take down the big Shadow." Raiden assured as he summons Izanagi Picaro. "Let's deal with these first." He stated as his friends agreed and fought back.

Back with the giant Shadow, the Demonic Warrior retaliated, using a **Vajra Blast** at the four with moderate damage as it struck again. However, Joker immediately ripped his mask off and called forth a Persona. "Setanta!" The Persona came forth and reached a deadlock with a **Giant Slice**. "Rouge, do you have a skill to recover our strength?" The Phantom Thief asked.

"Uh... right!" Rouge exclaimed as she sought a Persona in her soul. "Kikuri-Hime!" She called forth a Persona, casting **Mediarama** , recovering their strength back up.

"My turn! Arsene!" Joker swaps out Setanta as he summons a different Persona This one is unique, as it dashes towards the Shadow, it looked like a Red and Black colored thief with a wicked-looking mask with a tophat and dark red wings and bladed heels on the leggings. Arsene swiped as round-house kick with its bladed heels, launching a **Brave Blade** at the Shadow, slicing into the metallic body as it staggers backwards.

 **"Denying my pleasure and always butting in a my opportune moments! You always has been an eyesore. YOU AND YOUR DAMN PET!"** Shadow shouted as glares at Rouge who was still confused.

"I seriously don't know what it's talking about...!" Rouge denied in all seriousness.

"It has to be because of that Soul guy, he has that similarity you must have." Joker assumes as his Persona readies another attack. "Either way, it's going down." Arsene casts **Eigaon** as a dark blast struck the shadow, followed by another axe-kick **Brave Blade** , but was still standing tall.

"Looks like he's strong against all physical attacks!" Mona stated as he watches them from the other side.

"We ain't hitting that thing's weakness yet, what is it?" Skull grunted a question.

"Guys, get in here!" The Shadow commanded as a pair of shadows appeared, taking form of Shiisas'.

"This is gonna get a little rough." Panther sighed as she had Carmen puffing out a **Dormina** smoke at one of them, causing the Shadow to doze off with a sleep effect.

"Uh...!" Rouge panicked as the other Shiisa pounced at her as she evaded its lunge as the Persona User summoned Leanan Sidhe as it uses **Marin Karin** on it, causing the Shadow to daze around, but this time, it strike the giant Shadow instead, afterwards the Persona casts **Psio** on the brainwashed Shiisa, doing technical damage as the shadow dissipates after. "... Well, that works..." She chuckled weakly as she turns to the other Shiisa Shadow.

"That one has a weakness to Curse skills!" Mona told them.

"Got it! Arsene!" Joker nodded as he baton swapped with Rouge as he summons his Persona and casts **Eigaon** upon the Shiisa, instantly defeating it. Once more, Joker summoned another Persona, Leanan Sidhe of his own as it casts **Psio** on the Demonic Warrior, causing the giant Shadow to stagger down. "Shell we?" The Phantom Thief leader beckoned his teammates as the four charged in with an all-out attack, ending with Joker pulling down his gloves stylishly as the Demonic Warrior in the background spewed its blood.

Just as the Shadow dissipates, so does the rest of Shadows attacking the other Shadows fading out, ending the battle.

* * *

"That was... stylish?" Said Rouge baffled by his performance.

"Trust us, Rouge, he's that much of a show off." Skull agrees.

"I thought you were the one who shows off more than him." Panther says otherwise, much to Skull's denial.

As the ripped reality soon mended back together, the rest of their friends regrouped with the four. "Are you guys okay?" Raiden asked as everyone gathered.

"Yeah, we're good." Rouge replied with a thumbs up.

"Still, I gotta say, I didn't know you can use more Personas too." Skull commented.

"Rouge, was it? That was an remarkable on how you dance with your foe." Fox also complimented.

"Oh, uh, thanks... guys" Rouge replied, being overwhelmed.

"So what's next? We have to get out of this place. You think we can find an exit?" Rook asked.

Everyone realizes that and surveyed the area, eventually Freya finds a key laying on the ground where the defeated giant Shadow. "Oh this key. It seems it belong to the Shadow you defeated." She brought it to the group.

"And we can actually touch that key..." Mona taking a closer look at the key Freya gave to him. "Maybe we could use this. Is there a door nearby?" He asked.

"The the giant door to the school's Amphitheater. It's nearby." Saber pointed to the direction and guided them.

A little later they arrived at the giant door. Mona then examine the door lock and the key. "This is the only door we've saw around here. Sure hopes this works." Mona hoped as he inserted the key as it unlocked. The door automatically swung wide open, much to everyone's surprise, as it launched Mona right at Kuma.

"O-ow..." Kuma groaned as everyone sweat-dropped.

Facing back to the entrance, they entered as they see the Amphitheater filled with silhouettes. "Ah, this is when they select the Teams!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Selecting teams?" Panther asked as Saber explains how this system works.

"So your all appointed into four teammates and your Team name is the abbreviation of your first letters of your names?" Queen summarized as the Huntsmen nodded.

Ren looked upon the stage to see the same four people they saw. "Look there, isn't that Gaius up there?" He pointed towards the stage as the Headmaster began the orientation.

"Soul Rose, Nei Yuuki, Seta Dojima, Gauis Erston. The four of you have retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as... Team SEYD. Led by... Soul Rose." He declared. As the audience applaud, Soul was cheering excitingly, Nei was delighted, Seta scoffed with confidence, and Gaius held little emotions about this.

However, Soul gave a fist-bump to his Faunus teammate. "It'll be a pleasure working with each other, right partner?" Soul stated with a confident smile.

"Hm... I expect the best out of you, 'leader'." Gaius reply bumping fist in return with a small grin.

Just then and Echo faded in as the students heard. _"A reckless fool like is leader...? Interesting."_ it muttered, fading out.

Just then a flash lit behind the onlooking group as turned their back as door flashed before them. "Whoa, what the-!" Chan staggered as they all were engulfed into the bright light.

* * *

As the flash of light fade out, Rouge opened her eyes first as she noticed that they're back in the same room. "This room... Hey, we're back!" She realized as everyone opened their eyes as well.

"We certainly made it out of the painting, too... Huh? Now it looks different?" Mona included as they turned around to see the portrait, but this time, the painting show a pair of huntsmen, Soul and Gaius facing back while bumping fist with each other.

"Wow, now that's some clean quality." Kaze commented as he chuckled. "It's like he's a partner that does everything with him.

"He must of held a strong bond with that man. He must be a respectable ally to the Black Fang leader." Fox agrees.

"But still... 'Soul Rose'...? Are you guys sure he's not some distant relative to Ruby-chan and Yang-chan?" Chan wondered.

"Again, I think I saw him before... it's lagging in my head." Blaze said otherwise.

"I never met that guy before, either." Rouge agrees.

"And then there's Yu-senpai's mom." You thinkin' she and that Soul guy are married?" Bone guessed.

"He must of had his name changed and established residence in out kingdom. It's also possible to have your name changed, too." Queen assumed.

"Hmm... there's still some loop-holes in our questions." Joker mentioned but figured Raiden knows. "Raiden, you know the leader of the Black Fang, don't you?"

"Gaius-sensei? Yeah, he's my next door neighbor. He's also a good friend of my father." Raiden answered.

"Your father!? Your neighbor!?" Many of the group exclaimed.

"That's must be when Gaius-sensei became a Huntsman back then." Raiden also assumed.

"Wait, what's your father's name again?" Panther asked. "Not that it's important or anything..."

"His name is Souji. My father, Souji Narukami." Raiden simply answered, much to the other's sweat-drop.

"Souji Narukami...? So then your father's original name is Soul Rose?" Sakura asked.

"I can't really say, my parents never told me anything about their history." Raiden shook his head.

"Well... did you, by any chance, ever asked them about Gaius-san? Anything about him?" Skull asked.

"No, my father asked him to babysit me when they were out time to time... actually I never asked them for anything, really." Raiden denied.

"Wha-... wait so then, you didn't asked about their past life or their job?" Rook questioned.

"I think that's was when I started to go to my first year of Middle School. I did 'try' to asked them a related question, but when I did, it seem they didn't seem comfortable about saying anything, so I never asked about it afterwards." Raiden explained.

"Back when you started Middle School!? Dude, that literally leaves more questions needed to be answered." Told Kaze.

"If not incredibly obedient..." Saber muttered.

"If we need questions we could probably try another memory." Rouge pointed out a suggestion, with everyone turning to Rouge. "I mean, these pictures actually show Mr. Erston's memory. Maybe we could find the answered in there."

"Hm... that may be a plausible suggestion." Mona agrees as he realizes that he had something in his pouch and pulls out the same key he held back from inside the portrait. _"I should hold on to this... it feels like it has an important value..."_ He thought, putting the key back into his pouch. "Alright you guys, let's go investigate this castle once more." He suggested as he rushes towards the door. "And try to remain incognito, this time." He glares at the student Huntsmen of the group as they sweat-dropped once more.

Upon leaving the room and quietly heading out through the hallway, around the corner of the opposite side of the group's direction, was a certain Shadow leaning on the corner of the wall, observing the group's actions.

* * *

 **A/N: I am SO sorry for the delay. Work has left me no time to work on these. I'm afraid that I might delay the next chapters due to my workload IRL. I hope you guys don't mind.**

 **I see that Ren Amamiya is the official name for the P5 protagonist. As much as some of you guys like Akira Kurusu, I might actually use Ren as his real name and Akira as his cover name. He on probation, so a minor name change would be prefer... For now, I'll keep his name as Akira. Perhaps I'll use it as a nickname for the later volumes. Persona 5 the Animation is out if you don't know, btw.**

 **I used the character's codenames instead of their real name because they're inside the palace. nice ring to it, yes? I have their codenames on my page, too.**

 **I think I got an idea on how to get Ren (RWBY) a Persona it will relate to Gaius and his memory and possible easter egg hint from another game, you'll see.**

 **Also you guys saw P3D and P5D? They really are doing a rhythm game, too. holy hell.**

 **Unfortunately,** **I still haven't gave the P5 characters a shot in the Chibi segments yet. That's because I haven't been able to make them officially part of the crew. I made myself a rule to get the characters in the segments when they're... part of the crew... well that didn't made any sense... I assure you I will get them in the segments later.**

 **Also, if I wanted to make this short, think i should skip a excursion to Tatsumi Port Island? While I intend on featuring TMS and P4 Arena, I could say that the trip was canceled due to some incident with the Phantom Thieves and a murder under their name... otherwise I might need to make up a plot, which will take a longer while to plan out. For now, I still have to make this original chapter to a close, so please bear the wait, no pun intended.**

 **Also... Okay, I think I might actually squeeze some P5 characters... hear you go.**

* * *

Special Maid Cafe/Big Bang Burp

Akira, and Mishima invited Yosuke, Kanji, and Team RWBY and Janue and Pyrrha to a maid cafe. It has a awfully cute atmosphere. "Thanks for inviting us to one of these "Maid Cafes'" Jaune said with gratitude.

"I never knew that there were cafe with Maids." Pyrrha mentioned as she looked through the menu.

"This Kingdom certainly has a lot of time in there hands." Blake included as she looked skeptical about the cafe they were in. "All this pink is overwhelming..."

"You think so too?" Morgana meowed in agreement as he hid inside Akira's schoolbag.

"Well, I see that they have this big parfait, this looks big." Ruby noted.

"Big enough to share. How about it?" Yang asked the other teammates.

"I'll have this omelet to go with that parfait." Weiss ordered.

"I'm good with the parfait their having." Blake said.

"... Say, weren't there more of you guys around?" Mishima asked.

"Nora wanted to head to one of those fast food restaurant you guys call... Big Bang Burger?" Pyrrha told him.

"Oh, right! There's an event going on..." Akira realized.

* * *

At the Big Bang Burger, all the onlooking customers and the employees were all dumbstruck as they just witness Nora stuffing herself with the biggest possible burger they could offer in their challenges. "I would love to go for seconds...!" Nora stuttered in a deep tone.

"I think that's enough to skip dinner tonight, Nora." Ren suggested otherwise as an employee stepped before them.

"My sincerest congratulations on completing all three challenges in a row!" She stated with astonishment. "For your reward, I present to you the highest ranked certification available!" She stated as Nora acquired the Captain Badge. "We hereby promote you to the rank of Captain. There are no more challenges await you. But please feel free to do the challenge again and show us how gallant you are! We'll be wholeheartedly awaiting your return!" She bowed and left.

"Are you feeling alright, Nora?" Ren asked

"Mhm! Much be-*BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR-*" Nora's burp was loud and long, it started to shake the ground.

* * *

At maid cafe, the group were about to enjoy their parfait, until they felt the ground shaking. "What... was that...?" Blake questioned.

"Dunno." Yang simply replied with her mouth stuffed as they watch the Maid serving Jaune and Pyrrha.

"I shall now top it with some love cream!" The Maid coyfully declared as Jaune looked excited as Pyrrha glared annoyingly at the maid. "Loveee... insertion!" She stated as she blasted a whole lot of whip cream on their parfait. "Oh no! I put to much love on it..."

"She should've notice that while she was making it...!" Blake muttered.

"U-Um... Master... Th-This shows how high my love goes!" The Maid stuttered. "So... you'll forgive me, right?"

Jaune shook his head. "Oh that's all right. All is forgive-"

Just then, Pyrrha slammed her hand on the table which caught her friends attention. "Please. Fix it." Pyrrha demanded with an assertive smile.

"Oh my! Of course!" The Maid blushed as she took the plate away with a joyful expression.

"Wait, was she..." Yosuke wondered as he observes the interaction.

She returned with a new plate but with the same meal they ordered but with the just right amout of "Love Cream" on top. "Masters, I'm sorry for messing up today. But it really is nice having as kind a master as you, and your strictness showed how reliable you really M'lady!" She mentioned. "Enjoy your meals, Masters!" She said as she walks away.

"She seems nice." Jaune noted.

"Too nice..." Pyrrha groaned.

As the Maid walked away, the other guys couldn't help but looked thoroughly at the other Maids of the shop.

"Trap?" Akira asked.

"Trap." Mishima answered

"Definitely a Trap." Yosuke agreed

"Holy shit..." Kanji muttered in disgust.

They then turned to the Vale huntsmen as were enjoying his time in a Trap cafe, not knowing what the maids really are. "You guys brought us to Trap-themed Maid Cafe, didn't you." Yosuke whispered his questioned while giving a pained expression..

"We didn't know." Akira denied.

"I might've looked up the wrong information..." Mishima stuttered with a pained expression as well.

"Well... as long as Jaune doesn't knows about that..." Yosuke sighed as they kept to themselves.

"Hey more parfaits here, sweet-cheeks! Keep'em coming!" Cardin exclaimed with some maids hanging around his teammates.

"Master, how assertive!" One of the maids stated gleefully.

* * *

 ***Last Surprise -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Talk -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there** **-** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Keeper of Lust** **-** **Shoji Meguro**


	6. Gaius's Palace Part II

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **Gaius's Palace: Coincidental Segments**

No Date Confirmed  **Unknown Headquarters** Morning

As Gaius listened to Ruby's story, he couldn't help but widen his eyes to his surprise. "You... what!?" Gaius exclaimed in a baffled expression.

"Er... I'm Sorry! I'm telling you the truth to the bone, I swear!" Ruby stuttered with surprise at Gaius's outburst.

"No, it's just... what you just said, that memory... that was awfully accurate." Gaius reassured as he sat down. "So, not only your group entered my 'Palace', you guys also peered into my past life..." He muttered. "Hm... pay me no mind. Continue with your story if you would. Recalling everything from now is your priority, continue from where your were." Gaius requested as Ruby nodded in response, continuing off.

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

8/01 **Distorted Black Fang Headquarters** Afternoon

Continuing their infiltration with Joker at the helm, they managed to explore the castle with little stress as they fought against the shadows. The Huntsmen learned a method to strike down the incoming Shadows without them alerting more of them to the area, by sneaking up near them and ripping their mask off. With that method, dealing with the Shadows became more subtle than difficult.

Upon entering an open corridor they notice a ravine entrance with a thick forest of bamboo shoots above the sides of the ravine. They even see a pair of Shadow guards with a unusual distorted seal blocking the entrance by 4 chains locked upon the pillars of the entrance. "Any idea where that leads to?" Rouge wondered as they all hid behind objects obstructing their enemies sights.

"Somewhere important, most likely." Mona assumed. "If we can take out the guards we could take a closer look at the seal."

"The guards? Seems like they aren't going to move an inch." Saber noted.

"Seems ambushing them is no option, there's no foliage behind them either." Mona agreed.

"Hey Mona, it's only two of them in the area, right?" Rouge asked.

"There isn't any other Shadows, yeah. Why do you ask?" Mona replied as he witness Rouge changing Crescent Rose into its rifle form. "Oh...! Take one out and deal with the other? Brilliant!" He chuckled in impression.

"On her shot, we charge at the remaining Shadow." Joker suggested as they agreed.

Several seconds passed and a loud bang occurred, as a Shadow guard staggers back and dissipates immediately from being shot to the head. **"What the-!? Damn, an ambush!?"** The other Shadow exclaimed.

* * *

 ***Keeper of Lust**

Just as the Shadow exclaimed, four of the group, Rouge, Joker, Fox, and Kuma, stood before the Shadow with their arms at the ready. **"Wretched Assassins! In the name of our King, I will smite you all where you stand!"** The Shadow exclaimed as it began to take form of a Defeated Avenger.

The Shadow immediately charged towards Rouge as it uses Assault Dive on her which inflicted a good amount of damage to her. "Ow! You'll regret that!" Rouge winced in pain, but still standing her ground as she summons Pixie as it casts Zio, but at the lightning bolt struck the Shadow, it actually reflected back at the Persona User, as Rouge barely dodged the incoming bolt.

"It looks like it reflects Lightning attacks! You'll have to try and find out its weakness!" Mona explained.

"If we had Rise here, she'd find out about it's weakness in no time flat." Kaze muttered as he observes the fight.

"Well then, for now... Come Goemon!" Fox called forth his Persona, a unique figure in a blue tengu outfit holding a big blow pipe. It inhale and then exhaled, blowing out a strong chillly gust, his Bufula as the ice started to cover the Shadow, yet it shrugged the ice off as it retaliates with **Mazionga** , blasting the area with lightning as multiple bolts struck the four as Kuma took it worse, being afflicted with paralysis.

"Ted-! I mean, Kuma!" Rouge exclaimed to the stunned Ursa.

"He's only paralyzed!" Joker told them as he looked to Kuma and back to the Shadow. "I think I have an idea." He grinned as he gripped his mask.

The Shadow eyed down Rouge with a menacing glare. **"It's time for you to die!"** It declared as it readies another **Assault Dive**.

Just then Joker has a Persona to heal up Kuma, and then Fox had Goemon cast a **Bufu** ice pillar to launch Kuma into the Shadow's strike. Just as the Shadow stuck its attack on Kuma, it appeared that the Paralysis transferred to the Shadow.

"What the, How did Kuma-" Rouge staggered as she sees Kuma standing back up.

"Grr... how rude! What was that about!?" Kuma questioned.

"An idea to get your ailment off of you. At least I helped healing you." Joker smiled confidently while giving a thumbs up.

"To pass off the Paralysis to someone by any physical contact, no wonder you asked me to launch him. Impressive." Fox nodded in agreement, regardless of Teddie's ranting.

 **"Tch... damn you Assassins!"** The paralyzed Shadow snarled.

"Have some of this!" Rouge declared a she summons Leanan Sidhe an casts Psio and downed the Shadow as the Paralysis wore out. "Ready everyone!" stated as they began their all-out attack, assaulting the Shadow all round it as Rouge ended it with style. "Red like roses!" She stated as the Shadow dissipates behind her.

* * *

Afterwards they returned to the group as they gathered towards the seal. Wow, now that was stylish, sis!" Blaze commented.

Afterwards, they started to examine the seal in front of them, even their surroundings. "Are these trees? Aren't we supposed to be in the middle of the city?" Rook wondered as he looks up to those thin branches above them.

"They're Bamboo trees." Raiden answered. "And yeah, we are."

"What ever this seal is, think the treasure's in there?" Skull assumed.

"Assuming we can get through this seal." Chan said otherwise reached over the seal, only to be stunned as she staggered back. "Yikes!"

"Chi- er... Chan!" Sakura stuttered as she went to check on her friend's hand.

"Unless we find a way to unlock the seal, we won't be able to enter that area for the time being." Queen stated.

"Actually... check out these depressions on the pillars here." Mona pointed out to the two pillars that holds the seal up.

"You found something, Mona?" Kaze asked as Mona pulled out an key he brought back.

"Take a look at this it's the same key I brought back from the painting. It seems this key is linked to this seal if you take a closer look at the description on the key." Mona continued as the read the description on the key; 'How we met.' "Now take a look at the description above the matching depression." He pointed at the said description above the depression; 'The First Bond'.

"You thinkin' the key's related?" Bones asked.

"One way to find out." Mona replied as he fit the Key into the matching depression. Just as the key fits the depression, a chain next to the lock disappeared, much to the student's surprise.

"A lock is gone. It seems we will need 3 more." Blanc noted.

"Guess we'll have to look around the castle a bit more. We now know a possible location of the treasure." Mona stated.

"If we can find another of those painting, we'll probably find another key." Queen added.

"Don't forget those Shadows. Gotta beat the shit outta them, right?" Skull followed.

"I'm down for that!" Blaze chuckled as she slammed her fist in her hand.

"Gaius-sensei's memories is indeed a story, though, regrettable that we're intruding upon his personal background." Fox muttered.

"Better we tone it out otherwise, I guess..." Kaze suggested. "Shall we get going?"

And so they continued their investigation.

* * *

While continuing on there infiltration, some of the Phantom Thieves couldn't help but wonder about the Huntsmen's weapons. "Interesting... I never seen a weapon like yours, lady Rouge. Is that supposed to be a retractable scythe?" Mona commented as he stared at her Crescent Rose.

"Oh, you like it?" Rouge replied as she pulled it out and changed it to her scythe form. "It's not just that, it's also a customizable, high-impact velocity sniper rifle." Ruby told them.

"For real!? It's also a gun!?" Skull exlcaimed.

"It's also a gun." Rouge affirmed.

"My word, it's amazing how its design can retain both a scythe and a rifle. The creator must be incredible." Fox commented.

"Yeah, I'm kinda a dork when it comes to these things. I did went so far with the design." Rouge noted which caught their attention.

"Wait, you made it yourself?" Panther realized,much to the surprise of the other Phantom Thieves.

"All students at Signal Academy forge their own weapons, check out Ember Celica? Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlets!" Blaze added as she showed off her weapons.

"Daaamn! Those are badass!" Skull commented.

"One punch from that could render someone unconscious." Joker added.

The other Huntsmen showed them their weapon, as the Phantom Thieves were awe-struck as well.

"Marvelous... I can tell that you're all quite the artists." Fox commented.

"If only our Kingdom can allow students the materials for designing..." Queen sighed.

"Your Kingdom doesn't allow you guys to make their own weapons?" Freya asked.

"Unfortunately our Kingdom's politics had more pressing matter than the Grimm, sometimes now. Even members of the Black Fang are stretched thin from patrolling our kingdom." Queen responded.

"Especially having to deal with shitty adults who takes advantage on people who couldn't fight back. Really pisses me off!" Skull grunted.

"I fathom what will happen to Gaius-sama if he's still bedridden, he's currently the leader that's holding the fighting force of our Kingdom. Sakura mentioned.

"Um... all the more reason to remain focus here? We still need three more keys to go, by the way." Mona mentions as they all focused back on the infiltration.

* * *

8/01 **Black Fang Headquarters** Afternoon

Back in reality, the Black Fang HQ were in a tense situation now that their Leader is ill. "How's the leading unit holding at the edge?" Alvin questioned.

"Barely, no casualties so far." One of the operatives stated.

"Really, now of all the times to fall ill...!" Another operative muttered.

"Stow that bellyaching, If they're still breathing they can still stand tall against the Grimm." Alvin replied with a stern expression. "In fact, can someone call in the reserves? I can bet the guys on front lines are getting really tired."

"They've just requested it. Sending the text and emails now!" An operative stated.

"*Sigh* Couldn't we call the Onmiyoji corp.? Maybe the song weavers could-" Another Operative until Alvin cut him off.

"Hey, I said to cut the bellyaching. Besides, our boss is the only one who can call them, and he's still out of commission!" Alvin exclaimed as he then took a breather. "... Has the reserves called back?" He asked.

"We've gotten responses. Several Huntsmen and even Narukami-san's helping out.

"!? The husband or the wife?" Alvin asked with his eyes open.

Operative: "The wife."

"Oh... well, we'll have make sure to support her with everything we have." Alvin declared.

"And Gaius-sama?" An operative asked.

"He takes back command once he's back on his feet. For now, lets show Grimm a thing or two!" He exclaimed as the Operatives in the room exclaimed to an agreement in response. _"Dammit Gaius, at a time like this to go ill..."_ He pondered.

* * *

8/01 **Distorted Black Fang Headquarters** Afternoon

As the group explores the castle until they find another door that looked the same like the last one they went to.

"This door is the same one from before?" Panther asked.

"It's likely Beacon's will be the area of the memory it shows." Saber assumes as they enter the room. as the portrait show a picture of a team.

"A team of huntsmen?" Blaze asked as her eyes widen along with Rouge's as well as they both realize who they were.

"Mom... Dad, and Uncle Qrow!?" They both exclaimed much to the others confusion.

"What is it? You two know them?" The asked the sisters.

"Personally, yeah." Rouge answered. It revealed that they were Team STRQ respectively are their parents; Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, and Raven and Qrow Branwen.

"Do... you think they know who Gaius is?" Freya wondered.

"One way to find out." Raiden suggested as he placed his hand on the portrait as he entered first along with everyone else. Although Blaze had a stern expression when she stared at Raven before followed her friends in.

* * *

As they entered the portrait, it appeared that they arrived in the same place they were last time; the academy's school grounds, slightly grayed out.

"The hell, we were just here...!" Skull sighed.

"It must another event that takes place." Queen deduces as she notices the people of interests once more. "And speak of the devil..." She pointed to Team SEYD.

They see Soul paces around while Nei and Seta were sitting nearby even Gaius had his book out reading as they watched Soul did his thing. "You have to calm down Soul, she's not going be on any other airship." Gaius suggested as he flipped a page.

"I know!" Soul exclaimed as he gives a strong sigh. "It's just that... now that my sis is enrolling..."

"You... care... for imouto?" Nei asked as she tries to speak English.

"She means younger sister." Gaius translated as he flipped to another page.

"Oh... er... yeah... I guess..." Soul replied as he looked away flustered. Suddenly his eyes widen as the airship landed. Soul then rush towards they airship as his team followed.

"That Soul guy has a sister?" Chan wondered as they, too, followed the Team to the airship. Raiden, Rouge, and Blaze went silent as they followed suit.

At the landing pad, Soul was tapping his foot anxiously as he spot a girl with a white hood, recognizing his younger sister. "Summer!" Soul exclaimed, much to certain students watching them.

As Soul rushes towards her, he trips over his feet, and fell. "Hahaha... Dude, watch where you're going!" Said a familiar student, Qrow, laughed as he walked by with another familiar student, Raven, walking by, minding her own business.

Soul groaned as he pressed his nose as a blond student came up and offered a hand up. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine... ow..." Soul stuttered as he stood back up and took a look at him. Are you a new student?" He asked.

"Yep, I'm Taiyang Xiao Long." The blond introduced himself.

"Oh, cool! Well, Welcome to Beacon Academy." Soul greeted back as they shook hands as he then turned to his younger sibling. "Summer!" He instantly jumped towards her as she shift to a side, dodging his brother's embrace as he fell to the ground again.

"It's nice to see you to, Soul." Summer laughed. Soul stood back up with a chuckle as he rubbed his face again.

"Anyway, I wanted you to meet my teammates I mention." Soul introduced his friends he was with for an entire year.

 _"Summer Rose."_ Gaius's mind spoke. _"She certainly has similar traits to her brother that's for sure."_ He ponders. _"Thinking back. I wonder how Kali is doing these days..."_

The group watches the warm drama and the unfolded revelation. "Holy shit... so not only that's your dad and all, but..." Skull muttered.

"Mom... our parents..." Rouge muttered as well.

"Summer-chan... she is as cute as Young Sensei!" Kuma realized. "No wonder I felt such similar strong charisma from her, it runs in the family!"

"Soul Rose or Souji Narukami is my mom's older brother, then..." Blaze pondered as she realized something. "I wondered how he looked familiar, he was with Uncle Qrow that time."

"Wait, wait, the part where you almost got attacked by a group of Beowolves, that time?" Saber recalled as Blaze nodded.

"If we put them together, wouldn't that make Yu-kun and Ruby-chan cousins?" Sakura assumes.

Just then a flash of light appeared in shape of a rectangle, big enough to serve as an entrance. "It looks like we can go through." Mona assumes.

"What, but we haven't found a Shadow to beat." Nora pointed out.

"I guess we're lucky they didn't appeared yet." Ren sighed.

"We'll just have to try another portrait. Let's go." Joker led through the door with everyone. Yet, Raiden, Rouge, and Blaze looked back at the the reunion.

"So... we're cousins? I didn't know that..." Rouge said as he looked to Raiden.

"No one never mentioned this, back at Beacon..." Raiden replied with uncertainty.

"Well... I don't think we've asked them about it... thinking back, it never crossed out minds..." Blaze mentioned as her relatives sweat-dropped.

"So... we're cousins..." Raiden muttered as he pondered.

"Hey, what are you guys doing, let's go!" Kaze yell back at the portal, as the three proceeded to followed afterwards, returning to the palace.

* * *

As they exited the room the over heard a commotion nearby, coming towards them. "Whoa, everyone hide!" Mona commanded as the group hid through out the hallway.

Just then, as group of shadows lead by someone recognizable appeared as they all saw puppet-looking Yu for some reason. "What the... isn't that-"

 **"Gauis-sama's enemies are around, remain vigilant and strike them down. They are not to be taken lightly."** Yu? commanded monotonously as he and the Shadows left the area. They group left their hiding spot and loked on as Yu? left.

"What the... another Yu-kun?" Chan questioned.

"That must be a cognitive version of Raiden." Mona stated.

"A cognitive?" The Huntsmen wondered.

"A Cognition, they are the embodiment of what the hosts perceive them in reality." Mona explained. "Technically they aren't the Host's Shadow, so we can kill them without affecting Raiden."

"So that's what Gaius-sensei thinks of me?" Raiden wondered with his friends looking at him with concern. "I must be that great if he thinks I can lead." He mentioned as everyone sweat-drops.

"Is he always optimistic?" Panther asked.

"Meh, he usually sees the good before the bad." Kaze shrugged. "Then again, that Cognitive Yu seem too obedient, if you asked me..."

"Well, what ever the case... shall we get going? There has to be another door we could try." Rouge suggested as they continued their search.

* * *

They eventually find a door that was different, being dark mahogany brown-colored along with a White Fang symbol on it. "A White Fang symbol, what's it doing here?" Saber wondered as she goes and scans a closer look on the door.

"Perhaps this is his memory regarding his past life in the White Fang?" Fox assumes.

"The Black Fang Leader's connection in the White Fang? Well, I certainly hope that it's something worth while." Blanc inferred as they went inside Saber was a little reluctant upon entering and she soon knows why. It displayed who looks like a child Blake in front with Gaius's back showing, overshadowing Blake's younger self. "Hey isn't that..."

Taking a closer look at the child they then turned to Saber who stuttering all the same from the revelation. "Saber, are you okay?" Joker asked.

Saber sighed a nodded in response as she rubbed her head. "... It seems there's no point in hiding it. Do you guys remembered when I mentioned my relative? I think he's-"

"Saber." Raiden interrupted. "It's alright we'll likely see the answer for ourselves, you don't need to answer." He assured.

"One way 'ta find out right?" Bones fist-pumped as he dived into the portrait first.

Eventually, the others followed him in, even Saber.

As the flash of light faded out, the group found themselves in a huge foyer, with dim lights and darker setting, even White Fang members walking in and out.

"Oh shit... did we end in a White Fang base?" Kaze staggered as the other staggered as well. However no soldiers noticed the group in the middle of the foyer as if they weren't there.

"Well, at least this whole memory make us practically invisible." Chan stuttered with little humor.

"YOU GUYS ARE NOTHING BUT COWARDS!" A child screamed as the other White Fang memebers looked towards the entrance. The group turned as well as they see the Younger Blake ranting towards a pair of adults.

"Blake, sweetie, I know it's hard for you to believe but-" Blake's mother reassured but Young Blake swat her hand away.

"And what? You'd let the human trample all over us just because you say they not as bad!? Why can't you see that?!" She questioned.

"Blake... it's not that easy to forgive, but you can't just condemn every human you see." Blake's father said otherwise. "Please, come with us."

Young Blake shook her head with anger in her expression "No! I'm not about to turn my back on our kind, you trai-"

"Enough!" Gaius's voice roared out as everyone sees him walking towards the Belladonnas. He wore an entirely different outfit, red and black armor with a White Fang symbol on the back. He looked a lot more older than his previous appearance. "You are no to speak like that to anyone, not even to your parents."

Young Blake: "But Uncle! They-"

"They have made their choice and now YOU are under my command and you WILL behave yourself and WATCH your tone. Understood?" Gaius commanded, overshadowing Blake as she grunted as stormed off. "Honestly, I think she takes after you, Ghira."

"Well excuse for being defiant." Blake's father scoffed as they watches Young Blake until she was no longer seen from their viewpoint. "I've already mentioned to her that I've been elected as chieftain to watch over Menagerie, leading the White Fang and ruling over Kuo Kuana... it's already becoming more difficult between the two..."

"I'll see to it that Blake is properly behaved. But if something happens to me, I won't be able to protect her. One of these days, she'll have to make her decisions on her own if she doesn't let her attitude get to her." Gaius stated. "I trust that you both are going to be okay, Kali?"

"I really do appreciate you looking after her, brother. We'll be alright." Kali reassured. "I only fear that our daughter is making the wrong choices.

"Me too..." Gaius sighed.

They all watched the drama once more and they were ultimately shocked to see Blake's relationship to Gaius. "... For real...?" Skull stuttered.

They then turned to Saber as she was distraught by the revelation. "Blake-chan." Sakura hollered her friend by her real name.

Blake snapped back to her senses as her friend's gazes weighed heavily upon her. "I... really was a terrible child back then. I thought I was doing was right. The White Fang was suppose to be a peaceful activist organization created to improve relations between Humans and Faunus."

"But all that has changed ever since hasn't it." Fox followed. "I've always thought they were some mere terrorist group."

"Gaius must have done something to make a name for himself, hasn't he?" Blanc added as they turn to the costumed heiress. "Look, I know you guys told me to open up my view of the Faunus, and I'm still on edge about it. But there has to be more that this segment here, isn't it?"

"Precisely." Mona agreed as they see the cat picking up something. "This piece... I think it looks like a part of the key we've seen."

"Is it broken?" Freya asked.

"Pretty much, then again, Blanc was on point. Take a look." Mona pointed at Gaius entering the foyer from the entrance in cuffs.

Following after, they see the younger Blake, who seemed to have grown a little, carrying what looks like a wounded Adam Taurus. "Adam!? Adam-san!?" Both Saber and Raiden staggered.

"You guys know him?" Panther asked.

"Our team came across that guys and creamed us. We barely survive against him!" Kaze told them.

"Really, 'cause it looks like he's in a really bad shape." Skull pointed at the younger Adam

He was bleeding on his forehead, blood was gushing out from between the eyes as he glares at Gaius proceeding towards the throne room. "DAMN YOU, GAIUS! Rraaaaghhhh!" Adam roared as Young Blake held him down treat the wound.

"Adam, you have to calm down!" Young Blake demanded as she tends to her partner's injuries. She, too, glares at her Uncle for what he has done.

The group peeks into the throne room where Gaius stood on one knee before the High Leader of the White Fang. "High Leader Sienna Khan. To think we'd meet like this." The cuffed Huntsman addressed. The High Leader is a female Tiger Faunus with an extra pair of ears.

"Gaius Erston, I am awfully certain that you know why were meeting under these circumstances." Sienna mentioned as she looks down on Gaius with contempt.

"Yes. My subordinates acted out of place, and I personally dealt with their punishment." Gaius explained himself earnestly as the High Leader immediately stood up with anger.

"And you butchered half your said subordinates! What were you thinking!?" Sienna questioned.

"Sienna, that blasted fool, Adam was intent on starting a slaughter on a human village! Razing it to the ground and slaughtering its residents! You cannot be serious about letting that slide!" Gaius retorted with similar response. "It was only then I realized he incited half my unit and started an in-fighting. They went rogue and that boy was the cause of that!"

"But you had no authority to terminate their lives." Sienna retorted.

"And they had no authority to start a genocide!" Gaius roared back as he calmed himself down. "This is exactly why we never come to an agreement. Promoting violence will never solve a thing."

"Yet it brings results! The humans never saw us as equals, even after Ghira's methods. Such a method bred complacency and acceptance of our place in the world." Sienna told him.

"And you would push them back when they pushed us down, or is that they pushed 'you' down?" Gaius stood up with a challenging glare. "Unless you would understand what a human thinks, you yourself will be push down, by your own arrogance and shortsightings." He stated as they both traded glares with strong tension in the air.

"Watch your tone! We are not bringing your human friends in this account, but what you have done has cross the line for the last time." Sienna Khan stated as she make her judgement upon him. "Co-founder of the White Fang, former Vice-leader, former General, former Lieutenant, and now former Major. You have ignore so many of all of our orders and you disobeyed me for the last time. I trust you know what I mean?"

"That I'm no longer welcomed in your... terrorist group?" Gaius stated and scoffed after. "When I help found the White Fang, our organization was mean to be a peaceful activist organization created to improve relations between Humans and Faunus and to improve the civil rights. When I look back now, I see so many cracks are showing and your action are only making our place in the world worst. Using violence to get what we want, adopting more radical methods? I don't give a damn about results. And the respect were gaining from the humans now? It hasn't change their opinion, that we're nothing more than animals, what you've done did not change anything."

"Are you done lecturing me. You better be grateful I don't kill you where you stand." Sienna growled. "Gaius Erston, you are no longer welcome into our brotherhood. Take your leave now before we put you to our blades." She declared as her soldiers, in the room, have their weapons at the ready.

Just then, Gaius managed to break off the cuffs in an instant as everyone flinched, taking a step back. "Just so we are clear, I don't fear you or respect you. And these rodents here are like swatting flies. One of these day your methods will be the end of your rule and it will not be by my hands, I swear that to my grave." The Faunus spat as he walks out.

As Gaius leaves the throne room and was about to leave the entrance of the foyer, he wanted to tell the young Blake, who was the only one in the foyer, to hear his possibly last message. "Blake, you will listen well." He demanded as he didn't turn to face his Niece. "One of these days you will understand Adam's true colors. It will only be a matter of time before we point our weapons against each other." He told the young cat Faunus as he sighed. "We are as capable of of hate and violence as the humans, but I know that you and some of us wouldn't jump at the chance to point it out."

"What do you mean?" Young Blake questioned with a hostile glare at her Uncle.

Gaius turned around and knelt before her. "In time, you will grow, learn, and think for yourself and others, and I know you will do the right thing for the sake of those unfortunate to act." He told Blake with a stern, but warm expression as he stood back up began to head out. "Take care yourself, Blake." He said a the door closed behind him.

A moment of silence as they turned Saber who immediately wiped a tear. "I thought my family were running away all that time. It turns out they were in the right."

"I think this must be related to the history lesson we've learned. The White Fang stripped them from their ranks and were banished to wander Remnant for the time being." Freya stated.

"And eventually they made themselves a place in Japan. They must have been recognized for their service against the Grimm." Blanc added. "It seems they aren't as infamous than their terroristic counter part."

"Whatever you say." Kaze sighed.

"Whoa, uh, guys? It's that Adam person!" Mona alerted as everyone turned around to the the limping Adam walking towards them with a tear in reality behind him.

 **"Damn... you, Gaius Erston! Traitor! Coward!"** Young Adam roared as he erupted in a blast of darkness that blew the Persona Users back with Rouge, Saber, Blaze, and Rook stood their ground. **"I'll kill you! I'll kill you with my own hands! You will pay for getting in my way!"** The shadow, now taken form of a heretical goat.

* * *

 ***Keeper of Lust**

The blast of force shook the building as debris fell all around, preventing support for the four Persona Users near the Shadow.

"Adam...!" Saber exclaimed, much to her horror as she witness's the transformation.

 **"DIE!"** The Shadow exclaimed as it cast **Eigaon**. Saber evades the strike as the Shadow casts another **Eigaon** as Saber takes the hit.

Saber winced in pain as the Shadow readies for an attack. Yet Blaze and Rouge came in between as Blaze jabbed her fist at it, pushing at back the Shadow. It roared as it casts **Brain Jack** as had no effect on Rouge, Saber, and Rook, but Blaze was affected as she became confused.

"Oh no... Blaze's been brainwashed! She'll end up supporting the enemy if this keeps up!" Mona stated.

"Support the enemy how- *Smack* Gaaaahhhh!" Rook yelped as Blaze slammed her fist on Rook's cheek as he spun and fell. "Ow...!"

"Rook! Hang in their!" Freya cheered him on as the Masked Knight stood back up.

Blaze was still swinging her fists away on the shield-blocking Knight as the Shadow casts **Psiodyne** on Blaze as it caused major technical damage on her, rendering her unconscious! "Sis!" Rouge gasped as she snaps her head towards the Shadow as it casts **Eigaon** once more with Rouge evading the strike.

"Damn, Blaze is down for the count! Do you have something to get her back up?!" Mona asked.

"Hmm...!" Rouge pondered as she searches through the list of Personas she has on her, yet one of them strike her mind. "Phoenix!" She called forth the shining bird as it casts **Recarm** on Blaze with a feather landing upon her as it cause the unconscious Persona User to glow as she opens her eyes.

At the same time, Saber used **Sukukaja** to speed herself up as she was unrelenting on her blade swings towards the Heretic Goat, Rook looked around the Shadow, looking for an opening. _"Most Shadows have weaknesses... there has to be one..."_ He pondered as he looked around. While Saber continues her assault, her turns to Rouge helping Blaze up.

Just then, Saber was caught off-guard as the Shadow manages to catch her with its bare hand as it begins to crush her from its grip **"Die...! Traitor...!"** The Shadow growled as it squeezes its arms on her as she grunts in pain.

"Saber!" Rouge exclaims as she points her rifle at the shadow, holding her teammate as hostage, using her as as a meat shield, preventing her from firing.

 _"Damn, gotta think of something... fast!"_ Rook staggers his thoughts as he then act without think his moves first, summoning Odin, as it flicks its blade, as a pillar of light beamed from bellow the Shadow, causing it to release Saber as she backs away from the downed Shadow.

"What was that? A new attack move?" Saber asked as she readied herself.

" **Kouha**..." Rook recalled the skill name, but then focused back to the fight. "We have it on the ropes. Let's finish this!" He declared as he started off the All-out Attack. After the relentless assault upon the Shadow Rook landed as he reset Crocea Mors back to it's sheath with style as he then posed into a salute with his curled-up hand on the chest plate.

The Shadow dissipates as fragment drop on to the floor, ending the fight.

Mona jumps off the debris while everyone else manages to break open an opening to regroup with the four. "That was wonderfully well fought. You students aren't huntsmen for nothing, for sure." He commented as he approaches the fragment on the ground. He picks it up while grabbing the other fragment to see if they match and Lo and behold, they fit together.

"Is that the second key?" Rook asked as he was wheezing after the fight.

"Indeed, we got what we came here for, let's be on our way." Mona agreed as he gave Joker the Key as they all approached the exit. The Phantom Thief leader opened the door as they all entered the light.

* * *

The visible image shows Gaius on his desk as he was in reading a newspaper with his lunch on his desk. He then receives a phone call as he pulled out his cell scroll with Mitsuru Kirijo on the caller ID

"This is Gaius. I am in the middle of lunch, by the way." Gaius mentioned. "I'm guessing the mission was, somehow, successful, Kirijo?"

 _"Yes. However, our clients were not happy about their cargo left in the hands of the White Fang. It seems you were right about a possible raid, Gaius-san."_ Mitsuru reported.

"Your Team will be payed accordingly from the guild, but that isn't the reason why your interrupting my lunch is it?" Gaius assumed.

 _"You have a good assumption there."_ Mitsuru chuckle as what she said next sounded serious. _"Does the name Blake Belladonna sound familiar to you?"_ She asked as Gaius coughs out his drink, unprofessionally. _"Erston-san?"_

"Wha- no, I-I'm fine!" Gaius stuttered as he wipes himself off from his drink. "Was that young lady wearing mostly black and has cat ears?" He asked.

 _"She is wearing black and white outfit, but didn't see any cat ears. I can assume she's covering it black bow she's wearing."_ Mitsuru added.

 _"Typical Blake."_ Gaius mentally sighed. "I see. Can you send her Beacon Academy? It's better to send her to school than prison for theft. I'll make some calls on my end."

 _"Understood. Once we settled everything back in Japan, my Team and Team MAYJ we'll be heading to Beacon as well."_ Misturu stated.

"One other thing. Has she done something to you guys." Gaius asked.

 _"... No, in fact she was the one who saved us from Adam Taurus, cutting off the coupling between the train cars. Will we need to keep an eye on her?"_ Mitsuru asked.

 _"Adam...!"_ He grunted his thought. "There's no need to monitor Blake, if she did what she wanted to do, then I'll place my faith in her that she won't make another mistake." He declared.

 _"Very well, I bid you a good day."_ Mitsuru stated as she hung up.

Gaius gave a sigh of relief. _"So you finally realized it, my niece."_ He chuckled as he made a call to someone. "Ozpin-sensei, it has been a while. I would like to ask you a favor."

* * *

Back in the room, they all looked back to the painting only to find the same aged Blake and Gaius reading their own books, sitting back to back.

"Ozpin-sensei? Did he just referred to our headmaster?" Blaze realized.

"It... was my Uncle who showed me the joy of books." Saber sighed.

"Not only a friend to Raiden's dad, he's your uncle, too?" Joker added up.

"Small world, huh?" Raiden commented.

"Yeah, and with all that happening before, I can't fathom how his heart is distorted." Mona commented otherwise. "This is suspiciously odd to enter a palace of someone with an honest heart."

"Why is it?" Rouge asked.

"From what we've been through, we've only target crooks who have a strong negative and corrupted thoughts that warp the perceptions of people into a hazard for themselves and others." Mona explained. "Either Gaius really has stoop low enough to have such thoughts or something must have happen for a good person to create this palace."

"I'm hoping for the latter." Raiden commented. "Gaius-sensei may be strict when it come to lectures and lessons, but I don't believe that he would become a bad person."

"Raiden." Sakura muttered with concerns.

"Hey, if you believe in your sensei, then we'll trust you on that." Joker affirmed.

"A leader of the Black Fang, a sensei, and an Uncle. Such a noble man with a strong sense of honor. I will believe that your sensei is a better man than mine." Fox agreed.

"The way you say it, he really doesn't seem like a bad guy..." Skull agreed.

"Thank you, I appreciate your thoughts." Raiden thanked.

"So... we already got 2 keys, now we need... uh... two more?" Bones asked, returning to subject.

"Wow, Bones, you were paying attention?" Kaze realized.

"Sh-Shut yer trap, Senpai!" Bones retorted.

"Indeed. We must search for the next one, too." Queen agreed.

"Then let's bear-on our way!" Kuma followed with passion as they left the room.

* * *

The group eventually finds another door that looked entirely different as it had a black lily pictured on the door. "A different door this time?" Chan said.

"Let's get to it then." Skull eagerly entered the room, everyone else followed although, Ren couldn't help but froze by how the black lily looks familiar to him.

"Ren..." Nora muttered to Ren as he collected himself.

"I'm... fine..." Ren nodded as they followed their friends into the room. He tensed up a lot more when he gazed upon a painting.

"My word, I never saw such a horrendous creautre before. Is that supposed to be a Grimm?" Fox questioned as scanned the painting.

"I seen this Grimm on the internet, it's called a Nuckelavee." Rouge told them. The Grimm is a horse-like creature with an equine main body and a skinless humanoid creature that is fused with it. Its forelegs are shaped like claws and it has hooved hind legs that leave a characteristic hoofprint. The humanoid body, looking right at the viewers, has long curved horns on its head, a mouth that looks almost sewn shut, and two long elastic arms each with two clawed fingers. On the back of the human torso are boney spikes along its spine and a variety of weapons from previous battles stuck in it.

Soon enough they heard Ren collapse to his knees. "Ren!" Nora exclaimed as she stood by Ren who looked like he was hyperventilating as he dropped to his knees as he pressed his chest.

"Ren? What's happening!?" Rook asked his friend as he and Freya knelt to their Teammate.

"The... that Nuckelavee..." Ren gasped as they turned to the portrait of the Grimm.

"Ren, you don't look good. Did you had some sort of traumatic experience?" Freya asked.

"That's an accurate answer." Nora answered in Ren's place as she helped his up.

"There may be the next key in the portrait. It's better we take chance and leave immediately." Queen suggested. "Ren, will you be alright? you can stay outside the portrait if you want."

"No, I'll be fine." Ren nodded as he and then Nora entered the Portrait.

"Did something happened to Ren with that Grimm?" Chan wondered.

"We'll soon find out." Raiden stated as they entered the portrait.

* * *

As the flash of light faded out, they now find out their in a town on an evening night, yet what obviously stand out was faded out people were running around panicking in fear.

"Holy shit! The hell's happening!" Bones exclaimed.

The group examined their surroundings and realized a Grimm invasion is occurring. "Oh no...!" Ren muttered as he tries to keep himself cool. Even Nora also is horrified.

"A Grimm invasion!? But where is this place?" Rouge questioned. Before they could assess the situation, Ren began to sprint with Nora following them.

"Ren! What are you doing!?" Rook exclaimed as they had no choice but to follow them.

Ren ran through an alley, knowing where he was running, he entered the town plaza where people were running as he spots someone familiar. "Father!" He exclaimed as Nora and the others caught with them.

"Ren, what the hell!?" Bones exclaimed walked up to him as he pulled Ren back by his shoulder.

"Ren-san, do you know what's happening." Raiden asked calmly as Ren looked back to see his Father and his child self.

"This place... it's Kuroyuri, my hometown!" Ren answered as they heard a Grimm's roar echoed. They eventually saw something flying through a wall as the person appeared to be Gaius as he immediately got back up, even Soul appeared as he landed nearby rolling towards Ren's father.

"Ugh... dammit...!" Soul groaned as he shook his head and stood back up. He saw Gaius who was also getting up and then to Young Ren and his Father on the ground. "Mr. Ren, what are you doing!? Why are you guys still here!?" He questioned as he picks up his weapon that now looks like a Chokutō Katana.

"Li-san, young Ren, you're still here!?" Gaius exclaimed as well.

"Never mind me! Has the townsfolk manage to escape to the train?" Li questioned back.

"Ugh...! Nei and Seta have that covered, we're covering their backs, but the damn Nuckelavee-" Soul exclaimed, but then a building exploded like something rammed into it, and the Nuckelavee exited out of the dust cloud ambling before the Huntsmen. "Well, crap..." He grunted in pain as he readied his weapon and into his stance.

"Li-san, we'll hold off the Grimm, hurry!" Gaius urged as he and Soul retaliates, charging towards the Grimm.

"Oh... shit..." Skull muttered as they see their Ren running towards his Father, with the group following him.

"Father!" Ren exclaimed as he frantically tries to grab his arm up with no avail as Ren's hand just keeps going through like a ghost.

"Ren, you have to stop, it's only a memory!" Mona explained as Ren didn't listen.

"Ren!" Nora pulls him back as he down on his knees.

"Snap out of it, dammit!" Bones exclaimed as he knelt on a knee. "The hell is going on, Ren! Talk to us, dammit!"

"Wait... No way... Ren you were here, weren't you?" Freya realize as they took a closer look and notice the younger Ren and his father, Li.

"Lie, you have to run," Li exclaimed as his leg was sprained.

"No. Don't!" Young Ren begged as he crawled to him as he showed tears in his eyes. "Please, get up!"

At the same time the Huntsmen continued to clash against the Grimm as both upper torso and the horse acted separately, allowing it to fair itself against the pair of Huntsman.

The groups watches between the Huntsmen against the Grimm and to the father and son.

"You have to be brave now. Do you understand?" Li told his some with a stern expression.

"No, please. Please, I can't!" Young Ren cried as Ren repeated the same as well.

Li took out a unique knife and gave it to the younger Ren. "Yes you can!" Li exclaimed as he shoved him away. "Take action, son." He told him as he limped back up. "Your mother and I love you... Now go!"

"Father...!" Ren stuttered as he shed tears. Worst to come, the pair of huntsman were pushed back, Gaius skidded before them as Soul was knocked back violently as the Nuckelavee stomped its front hoof before them.

"Ugh, Li, why are you still- your son, too!?" Soul staggered back.

"Run!" Li yelled as he supported the huntsmen, shooting arrows as Soul and Gaius charged back at the Grimm.

"The train is down the road! Hurry- Guh!" Soul exclaimed but he punted back without paying attention as Young Ren ran away.

The Nuckelavee hasn't forgotten Gaius he slashed it from the flank, yet the Grimm spun around as it staggered the Faunus Huntsman and rewind itself and slammed its other arm. "Gerrhh...! _I was careless!_ " Gaius grunted as the Grimm crushed him into the pavement.

"Gaius!" Soul growled as he tries to stand back up as he saw Li standing in front of him, knocking arrows at the Grimm as its open arm flung towards Li with its sharp and boney claws stretched towards the Archer. "Li! Dammit, NO!" He gasped as the claws impaled through Li, with the Ren, Nora, and the other Persona Users witnessing the death Ren's Father.

"Oh god...!" Sakura gasped as Chan averted her eyes, the Phantom Thieves looked away and the members of the Investigation Team looked on in horror.

The Persona Users of Beacon did the same, as they and Nora looked to Ren with his eyes empty eyes. "Ren...!" Nora exclaimed as Ren teared up.

Rook: "Ren... I..."

"YOU... DAMN... FREAK!" Soul cried out as his anger exploded as his eyes flashed as his iris began to erupt in a white flames. What's more surprising, the Nuckelavee immediately retracted both of its arms, releasing Gaius and pulling out it's claws out of Li as Soul notices him, catching him and laying on the ground before he glares back the Grimm galloping away. "Bastard, I'm not done with you!" Soul exclaimed as he attempted to make chase.

"Souji, stop!" Gaius exclaimed, holding his team leader back.

"What? Why!?" Soul or Souji questioned, with frustrated emotions erupting with his eyes lit with a white flame.

"Do not forget our objective! Protecting the citizens is main priority, we need to focus on the Grimm that are attacking the citizens, not the ones retreating." Gaius rationalized.

"What!? But that damn Grimm-!" The silver-eyed huntsman exclaimed.

"It will be dealt with when it shows up again, but the other Grimm are still here. Focus, Souji!" Gaius stated as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Grrrgh! Goddammit...!" Souji grunted as he kicked a nearby debris away while he begins to calm down with his flaming eyes extinguished. "Dammit... A-Alright! Alright... round up any more survivors and escort them to the rendezvous." He commanded as he picks up Li, as he coughs blood.

"Is... is my son... alright...? *Cough*" Li coughed weakly.

"If he ran towards where the rendezvous is, then I'm confident he's okay." Souji reassured as he began to leave the area. "You're gonna be alright, Li. We're getting you out of here and you're gonna see you son again, so stay with me!" He told the fatally wound Li as they left the area.

Gaius stood there as he reflected. "This is... an ultimate failure..." Gaius lamented as gripped his hands. He then proceed to leave the area elsewhere himself, leaving the group.

"Ren... I'm so sorry..." Freya said to him as Ren was left with no response.

Just then a loud roar rung as they turn to see the same Nuckelavee twitching as is the head and the horse stared at them. The head piece began to twitch aggressively and roar an ear-piercing scream as everyone nearby tries to muffle the roar. Ren didn't move an inch, but turned his head to the Grimm before them. "Oh no, it's coming right at us!" Kaze alerted.

"Bastard! You're frickn' dead! You hear me!" Bones exclaimed as he and the others readied themselves, yet Ren stood up with a growing anger brooding.

Nora: "Ren?"

"To what end do you creatures of Grimm will have to go...?" Ren muttered as he glares the the Nuckelavee with a mixture of hatred and sadness. "You... all of you... will pay for what you've done!" He declared as he draws Stormflower.

 ***Awakening P5 ver.**

However a voice rung out followed by seizure inflicted Ren. **_"So what are you going to do?"_** The Voice asked as Ren pressed his head from the pain, followed by dropping down to his knees.

"Ren! What's happening!? Where's that voice coming from!?" Nora questioned.

"His persona... it's awakening!"Mona exclaimed.

 _ **"You gotten so far and now your hesitating upon reflecting on your failure. Didn't you became a huntsman in order to prevent another disaster like this? Did you not want revenge on the very creature that took everything from you?"**_ The voice rung out as Ren winced in pain, even his eyes flash yellow in that moment.

"I did..." Ren replied as he recalls his past, his memories, his home that was destroyed. "I became a huntsman, so I can set this right for myself... make peace with myself." He stated as he stood back up. "And... to finish what has set in motion." He added as he glares at the Grimm.

 ** _"Hmph. Very well."_** The voice muttered. _**"I am thou... thou art I. Your will rages on, retribution is demanded. Let your emotions become your sword, may thy enemies dance to the sound ringing steel!**_ " The voice declared as a facial mask appeared from blue flame as it covered his mouth an nose. The design look like a ninja mask.

"R-Ren?" Nora uttered as Ren turned to her.

"Everything is going to be alright." Ren assured with a calm smile as he face the Grimm and started to peel his mask off, the pain erupted as his lower head gushed blood. Although he yelped in pain, his entire body was then engulfed in a blue blaze.

The Nuckelavee did not hesitate as it stretched its claw towards Ren inside the blinding light. "Ren! Ren-san!" His friends yelled out, but then a glowing bright saber appeared from the flame as cut the Grimm's arm and sliced through the blue flame as Ren and his Persona appeared out of the flame.

 ***Will Power**

Butterflies flew away from Ren's Persona as it appeared, an insect-looking warrior with four arms wielding beam-like scimitars in each hands and wings and antennae included as well.

Ren now has a costume as a Ninja outfit, but with a different style and a lighter tone of green then, Kaze's darker green garb.

"Ren! Is... Is that your Persona?!" Raiden asked with surprise.

"Cool!" Rook agreed.

"Even your outfit, your look even more of a ninja than Kaze!" Chan included.

"Did you have to include that, too?" Kaze complaint with a sigh.

"Huh...? S-Sensei, I'm smelling Shadows! They're coming!" Kuma alerted. With little more to say, Shadows started to appear as they surround the group.

The leaders scanned their surrounding as they seemed confident. "These Shadows should pose much of a threat. And there's that Shadow that we have to deal with." Joker mentioned.

"Leave the Grimm to me." Ren requested as he stepped before the Nuckelavee, but his Teammates did not approved as they stood along side him.

"I'm not about to leave you alone, we are going to take it on as a Team." Rook stated.

"Ren. We're doing this together. We can do this!" Nora reassured."

"You have our support." Freya included.

"Guys, can you clear the Shadows around the Grimm, we got this!" Rouge order her Teammates and nodded. The rest of the others figured the clear the Shadows elsewhere to prevent more hostile reinforcements back up the Grimm. "Alright, let's do this!" Rouge declared as they began their assault.

"Let's go, Ravana! It's time to claim it's head!" Ren declared as Rouge and Team JNPR engaged the Nuckelavee.

* * *

The Grimm roared as it takes form of the Shadow in a form of a Harbinger of Death as the Huntsmen readied themselves.

"Nora, we'll distract the Shadow while you find an opening." Rook instructed as she nodded in response. At the same time, Rouge use **Masukukaja** to boost her friend's agility and evasion, with the Harbinger of Death swinging its scythe towards the Persona Users as they dodges the strikes.

Ren had his Persona to cast a strong **Garula** on the Shadow, followed by a **Tempest Slash** on the Harbinger of Death as the the rider part of the Shadow staggered but the horse of the Harbinger of Death back away as it galloped back as it made a run around.

"Ah, man... we need to slow it down!" Rook grunts as his Persona tries to give chase, but it's giant body was too slow as it is.

"Come forth!" Ren exclaimed, as Ravana sprouts glowing blue and red butterflies all over the field.

"Butterflies?" Rouge muttered.

Ren remained silent as the Shadow appeared from an alley as it was about to strike Ren from a blind side, but then Ravana intervened and lunged towards the Shadow, with it's arms holding a pair of broadswords with its arms, two of it's arms on each side, diverting the Shadow to staggered into a building, immediately pulling itself back out with the horse yelping. "He... saw that coming!?" Mona exclaimed as he observes Ren.

"Up there...!" Ren pointed as his friends saw Nora on the rooftop signaling her standby. "Let's push it back." He suggested with his teammates nodding back.

Rook had Odin bashing its shield as it held the Shadow back Soma Picaro and Brynhildr forcing it back more by casting their skills **Egia** and **Agilao** respectively as the Shadow roars in pain.

As the Shadow was brought back enough, Nora began her move, dropping down from the rooftop, falling as she slams Magnhild onto the horse as flings the rider off as the horse dissipates. The Rider then looks up at Ren as he points one of his Stormflower on it and proceeds on mercilessly firing the automatic rounds on it until the Shadow itself dissipates, ending the battle there.

* * *

Afterwards the rest of the Shadows retreated and everyone regrouped back towards Rouge and Team JNPR with Ren heavily breathing. "Damn, that was frickin' badass!" Skull commented.

"Are you going to be okay?" Queen asked the exhausted Ren.

"I think I'm gonna need a bit rest..." Ren pant as began to collect himself. "Mona, was it? You said that this place is a memory, correct?"

"Yeah, anything happen here, or the one's cognition in a palace won't have any effect in reality." Mona answered.

"Then that would mean, the real one is still out there." Ren realized as he knelt down as Rook and Nora caught him from falling.

"Whoa, take it easy Ren!" Rook told him.

"It's no surprise there. Having to awaken his Persona and then fighting at the same time, it really takes a toll on us." Joker mentioned.

"You do not need to worry about holding your share of battles, we'll cover you." Fox assured.

"Yeah, when we get back out there, we'll crush that bastard. I ain't about to let that thing get away with doin' that to a friend!" Bones declared with a assuring expression.

"Thank you." Ren gave a tired nodded.

"Hmm... unfortunately, half this key is still missing. I guess we'll have to find a door leading to the other half." Mona told them.

"Or we could use a convenient bright portal next to us." Panther pointed to the said bright portal... right next to them

"Agh, seriously!?" Mona complaint.

"Truly convenient." Fox agreed.

"Well, this is a unique palace, so any thing could happen." Raiden commented as Joker agreed as they both went into the portal first.

"How weirdness tolerant can they exactly...?" Kaze questioned.

"Honestly..." Blanc sighed as they all followed suit. Ren and Nora looked back as they reflect upon the last time they might see their hometown for now as they eventually followed suit.

* * *

Out of the flash of light followed by a gusting wind, they realized that they're now standing on a couple of flatcars of the train that's moving through a forest of the night. "A train?" Saber said out loud as they turn to the front with a passenger car connected the flatcar they're standing on.

"Where could this be...?" Kuma wondered as he scan his surroundings.

"This area... could it be a railroad in Anima?" Blanc assumes as they see Soul next to them

"It's Souji now! You're never gonna leave it with that, huh, you drunkard?" He exclaimed annoyingly as he hung up his scroll. He then proceeds towards the passenger car as they see Gaius exiting the door. "Gaius... Is the kid...?"

"Nei-chan said the trauma of the loss of his parent's has taken its toll and now he's fast asleep. I can hear him whimpering from what has happened." Gaius sighed as he leans on a nearby railing, even Souji sat besides him.

"We... messed up big time, huh?" Souji sighed weakly in a pitiful state.

"Take this as a lesson, Souji. There are limits to what a person can do, what one group can do." Gaius lectured his leader. "We have done our very best to save everyone, but this isn't the end of the world. What we did, we might have honored Li and save his child, perhaps he will take up the fight himself." He mentions. "The people of Kuroyuri will mourn the loss and they will endure. For now we still have a task to take care of, once we've secure the citizen's haven.

"Right..." Souji sighed as he stood back up, a he face the students, look surprised.

"Shit! He can see us!?" Skull staggered, but it seem it wasn't the case.

"Uh, Gaius, were are we expecting another train behind us?" Souji asked.

"No. Why-" Gaius asked as something shook the flatcar they're on, tripping the Huntsmen on the ground.

 ***Decisive Battle (FFXIV ver.)**

The students then turned around to realize a sinister-looking train was charging behind them. "What the hell is that train doing!?" Chan questioned.

"Th-th-th-that's not some train! I-It's the Phantom Train!" Rook yelped in horror.

"The what?" The other's asked.

"The Phantom Train...? I think the story was told that a long time ago, from a guest that a spirits took over an abandoned train as used it to bring the dead to the afterlife-" Sakura explained as the the "Phantom Train" strucked the flatcar again.

"That's not just some Phantom Train, the Geist controlling it!" Rouge point out as the Geist Grimm took form on the train, face in front with its claws appearing from both sides.

"Instead of figuring that creature out we need to prioritize how we can combat against it!" Mona told them as the Geist struck again, with the flatcar swiveling afterwards... "Well that's not good, it's off its coupling! Move to the next the train car!" He commanded as they followed.

While they rushed towards the next flatcar, Rook, Freya, Blaze, and Queen were a little late as the flatcar began to slow down. "Sis!" Rouge called out to her sister.

"Oh no! We didn't make it!" Rook exclaimed as the next flatcar was too far for them to jump.

"Johanna!" Queen summoned her Persona as it takes form of a silver motorcycle, with the Persona's face on the front of the bike. "Get on, quick!" She urged.

"A Motorcycle-shaped Persona? Awesome!" Blaze commented as she got first.

"Wait, what about-" Rook asked as he and Freya looked back to see the Geist Grimm pulling back, giving Rook a sigh of relief, yet it was short-lived when the Geist pushed the train to go faster as it rammed the flatcar with a stronger force, much to Rook's shock. The ramming train then launched the flatcar off the rails as it sent Rook and Freya into the air. While everyone else on the next car over, Queen and Blaze made their attempt to catch them, despite the reach, it was at the moment that Rook caught Freya by her hand, in mid-air, and summoned his Persona, ripping his masked off as he then noticed something appearing from under him. Knowing his partner was riding besides him, he notices that they were riding a mechanical horse galloping. "Wha... wait, what!?" Rook stuttered as he was still confused.

"Is that his Persona?" Fox wondered.

"No dude... that's a horse!" Skull replied with the same awe-struck expression.

"That is awesome! His Persona to change forms! Although, can he change Personas like us?" Rouge wondered.

"I think that's a Persona of his own power. From a humanoid form, to a horse. Vice-versa otherwise." Joker assumes as Raiden nodded as well.

"Rook! Queen! We'll cover you from here! Can you do what you can to damage it?" Raiden asked.

"Got it!" Rook affirmed as Freya changed Miló to its rifle form as she and Blaze began to fire down the Grimm from the flanks.

The Grimm, at the same time, ignored the fire and rushed towards the next flatcar where the others were at. Nora brought the exhausted Ren back to the passenger car while the others held their ground. Just as the Train gotten closer to the car, the began to assault the Geist possessing the train. Bones had Take-Mikazuchi ram its fist at the Phantom Train as it pushed the train back a little.

At the same time, it fired **Maragion** upon the Persona Users even Rook and Queen as they dodged the fireballs coming towards them, yet with a bike and the horse, they successfully avoided major damage.

"Pyro Jack!" Raiden summons the Persona to absorb the fire attacks that were aimed at the rest of them on the flatcart as they continued to retaliate.

Moments later, the Geist began to pull back into the fog, making the students wonder. "Think we beat it?" Blaze wondered, but the Geist brought the train onto the other railroad next to the train the student's were on and pulled the train right besides the train as Creep Grimm appeared above the Passenger cars on the Phantom Train.

"Waaaah! Shadows!" Kuma exclaimed as several Creep Grimm jumped towards the flatcar as they changed into enemy Pyro Jacks' as they swarmed the students, which they change their target to the Shadows.

Kaze casts **Garudyne** as he sent one flying away while hoping over the Shadows as he showers their enemies with raining kunais.

Chan kick several Pyro Jacks away, but was blasted by another Shadow's **Agi** , Yet Sakura healed her with **Dia** and covered her partner from the fire.

Skull and Bones struck their share with brute strength and lightning strikes, including yelling poor language.

Everyone was holding their own as they bested the last of the Shadows and now they turn there attention back to the Phantom Train as the Geist at the front has it's arms grip-tight on their Train, rocking the entire freight. "What the hell is it doing!?" Blaze questioned as Rook analyzed what's happening.

"It's... It's trying to derail the train!" Rook exclaimed. "Guys you have to stop the Geist!"

"But how!? Do we just jump across a moving Train?" Chan doubt.

"It's worth a shot!" Rouge assured as she propelled above the Phantom Train's passenger car, as the others followed suit in their own way.

Joker found loosed pipes and bars for him to hold on to the car as he climbed up, as Saber sling herself up, as Chan had Tomoe launch her on top as as well. The four made their way to the front of the train. So what do we do now?" Chan asked.

Rook brought him with with Odin picking up speed in order to look for a potential opportunity, which he found. "Uhh... the chimney! Destroy the chimney! That should slow it down! I hope..." He assumed.

"Alright then, Arsene!" Joker summoned his Persona in order to damage the Chimney with **Eigeaon**. Rouge fired her sniper rounds as Chan and Saber came in close and punch and slashed the Chimney. Once the dealt damage, Rouge cast **Tarukaja** on Chan following up with a **Black Spot** as it ripped the chimney off of the pilot Train as the smoke erupts.

"We need- *cough* to get off! now!" Saber exclaimed as they almost choke from the smoke. The jumped off the Phantom Train at the right timing as the Geist roared as the Phantom Train slowly pulled back into the fog.

"Aright, we did it!" Bone cheered.

"Don't to excited yet, I think it's still coming back!" Mone alerted as the see the Grimm back on their track, behind them.

"It's still coming towards us!?" Sakura gasped.

Just then, Rook, Freya, Queen, and Blaze vaults onto the flatcar from Odin and Johanna as they, too, face the enemy Grimm. "And our train isn't even picking up. That thing won't quit, will it!?" The masked Huntress grunted in frustration.

"We haven't even had the chance to regain our strength from our previous battle... we're running on fumes here..." Fox mentioned.

"Then we gotta end it here, Blaze, I have an idea!" Chan exclaimed as Blaze lent her ear with an idea in mind, which Blaze was intrigued.

"Well, then? Now or never!" Blaze stated as they both jumped as they **Power Charge** d themselves, leaving their friends shocked and baffled.

Rouge: "Yang!?"

Kaze: What the hell are you doing, Chan!?"

Both students summoned their Personas as Ifreeta and Tomoe and their respective wielder stood fast against the train, as the students pushed against the Train's fenders and their Personas pulled from the flanks, and soon enough they began to lift the train upwards, with everyone's shock and awe as they both manage to slammed the entire train down on its back with a wrestling technique.

"Holy shit, did they just suplexed the train!?" Skull stuttered.

"Yeah, really don't wanna be on the receiving end..." Kaze nodded with a similar expression.

Nonetheless, the battle has concluded.

* * *

Afterwards, they managed to secure Blaze and Chan as were feeling hurt all over. "That... was... insane!" Bones complimented.

"Yeah... I think that will be our one-time move..." Chan suggested.

"I was surprised by the idea. That was the coolest thing we did!" Blaze stated with enthusiasm.

"R-Right..." Chan groaned.

"The Key should be completed, right, Mona?" Raiden asked as they all turned to the Cat holding the completed Key.

"Color me impress you two, you ladies are strong backbones of your teams." Mona commented as he guided them to the Passenger car door.

Although they heard Souji breathing heavily behind them as they saw him and Gaius sheathing their swords. "To think a Grimm would possess an old train. I heard that they long abandoned their older models, and making better trains." He mentioned.

"That's the least of our worries..." Souji sighed heavily as walked back towards the passenger car.

But just as Souji enters the car, Gaius sensed something and turns around, staggering the Persona Users, wondering if he can see them. Yet that wasn't the case when they see Ren looking where Gaius was actually looking at. A pair of images of Ren's parents as they gave a humble bow as they disappeared. "Ren-kun..." Sakura muttered with worry.

"Gaius, is something wrong?" Souji asked as he held the door open.

"It's nothing. It seems I'm seeing ghosts." Gaius answered back as he walk towards him.

"Great, now we're being haunted by the people of Kuroyuri...?" Souji sighed in depression as he close the door followed by the door opening again followed by a flash of light blinding the Persona Users' sight.

* * *

The next thing they see before their sight is the room they entered before the portrait, this time with the Younger Ren and  
Nora looking determined than before with Gaius and Souji in the background.

"Gaius... He and his teammates were there at my hometown..." Ren muttered as he gaze upon the portrait.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." Freya console him and Nora.

"It's fine. In fact, if it wasn't for Gaius's suggestion, I wouldn't of became a huntsmen in the first place." Ren told them with a calm smile. My feelings are real. I am mortified by my parent's death, and Gaius gave me an opportunity to prevent another invasion."

"So that's why you two that eager to guard that village the other day..." Rook mentioned, recalling their first mission before the recent Grimm invasion in Vale.

Ren turns around and looks to his friends. "You all saw my past, and I appreciate your empathy." He told them as he soon realizes his Phantom Thief outfit that he was wearing. "It seems I can actually fight more better in the palaces."

"How are you feeling right now? You must be tired after summoning your Persona." Raiden asked.

"True. I feel incredibly exhausted. Was this the same for the rest of you?" Ren asked.

"Summoning a persona and then bearing through a fight? There's no doubt that this palace is no place for normal humans." Kuma stated.

"But what about me?" Nora asked. She the only one there without a Persona.

"I bet it's the Pancakes I'm feeding you. You were able with stand against the Shadows." Ren chuckled as Nora then laughed as well.

"Hm... We've been in the palace long enough, and we definitely made progress. " Mona explained. "Let's head out for the time being, our rookies probably gonna need to rest."

"We're not 'rookies', we're huntsmen-in-training!" Blanc retorted.

"But we are too exhausted." Saber interject. "As long as we can return here, this might be a good time to recuperate our strength."

"Alright." Ren nodded as the leaders took point. Ren looks back at the panting a gave a moment of silence for his parents. _"I promise I will deliver justice on that Grimm."_ He vowed in his thoughts as he clenched his fists.

* * *

As they made their way to the exit, a voice spoke out from behind. **"I've made it clear that you weren't allowed in my castle?"** Shadow Gaius recalled with everyone turning to their backs, staggering with surprise. **"Or are you intent on following through with a death wish?"** He asked with his hand gripped on his Katana.

"Sh-Shadow Gaius!?" Kaze stuttered as Cognitive Yu and some other Shadows arrived.

"Gaius-sensei. We're not here to assassinate you. We came to resolve your situation." Raiden assured.

 **"And yet you infiltrated my castle along with the Phantom Thieves. I thought you enrolled at Beacon to better than this."** Shadow Gaius scoffed.

"Hey, I don't know why your the fretting like a kid over this, but will be the once who'll kick your ass!" Skull declared with some other sweat-dropping.

 **"Bold words, for a delinquent."** Shadow Gaius replied as he eyed towards Ren and Saber. **"Even, my Niece and the child that lost everything. You are risking their lives by bringing them here, young Narukami."**

"We came on our own accord, Uncle." Saber retorted. "I know that you're aware that you've been hit by an illness and it links to you palace."

"We came here in hope to heal your heart, what ever is effecting you." Ren included, readying his Stormflower. "Consider this repayment for what you did for us."

Shadow Gaius said nothing as he watches the students arming themselves and then gave a heavy sigh with a glare. **"So you're all not going to back down, correct?"** He asked. The students said nothing so he took it as a yes. **"Fine, you look too exhausted to fight. Take your leave.** " He suggested as he turns around to leave, confusing the students.

"Wait, what?" Chan wondered.

 **"I see no reason to fight people who already looks defeated. If I want you to face me, you will all do so at your best."** Shadow Gaius declared as he left, with Cognitive Yu staying behind along with the other guards.

"You are trespassing on castle grounds. Leave or you will be terminated." Cognitive Yu declared monotonously as he drew his Katana along with the Shadows taking form.

"Damn, we're expose! Retreat! Now!" Mona exclaimed as they all made their escape.

Cognitive Yu slowed down as the supposed Assassins made escape through the entrance already. He turned as face the rest of the Shadows. "Bolster more into the castle, do not let, even a mouse, in!" He stated monotonously as they obeyed.

* * *

8/01 **Shibuya, Japan** Afternoon

The Students returned back to reality with an empty alleyway, back into their original outfits before they went in. "Did we make it back?" Ruby asked.

"That's right. Fortunately, no one will ever know what we'll do in the palace." Morgana voice stated with the Student Huntsmen wonder about the cat.

"Morgana?" Blake noticed his voice coming from the cat in Akira's bag.

"Surprised? That's Mona's real form." Ryuji snickered.

"I am not a cat this just because of the distortions that affect me!" Morgana retorted back with a hissed.

"Wait a minute, your THAT cat? How come we couldn't understand you before?" Weiss questioned.

"We might have to explain that part, too..." Yu added as he then pointed at the blue-haired Fox Faunus. "Also, if you guys didn't know, our friend here is Yusuke." He introduced their friend.

"It is a real blessing we can meet with our real self out of our outfits. I am Yusuke Kitaguwa, a second year artist of Kosei High." The Fox Faunus introduced himself.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you too. I'm Ruby Rose." Ruby and here friends introduced themselves to him as well.

"I think it's best we rest for the rest of the day. I think Leblanc still has curry to eat." Akira suggested.

"Curry again? Isn't there anything else on the menu. Weiss begged to wonder.

* * *

 **A/N: Gods... it passed over a month now? Work here never give me time. If anything, I'll do my best to give you guys another chapter, soon than later.**

 **So I can assume that you guys already knew about the idea that Yu and Ruby were related, right? The eyes obvious, so I made it to believe that Soul/Souji is the older brother of Summer. Yu certainly got his grey-hair color from his mom, though.**

 **I sorta implemented Blae relation towards Gauis as a relative, given to the fact that he's also a Faunus. The Gaius in ToX certainly had the passive and observant personality and the liking of books compared to Blake, I assumed the was that common trait that she got from her "Uncle"**

 **So Ren has his own Persona Ravana. And I included a boss from the Final Fantasy Series; the trademark Phantom Train... this time with an idea with a Geist Grimm possessing the train to chase the remaining people of Kuroyuri... Yeah... I implemented Team SEYD to be at Kuroyuri at the time...**

 **I don't exactly have much else to say, but pardon my late posts, but please review if you want. And Happy 4th of July!**

 **Here's some omake skits!**

* * *

Tired Morgana

Morgana finally arrived back into his room, tired after an eventful day. "That Palace was a real killer..." The cat purred as he began to nap on a nearby couch. "Must... rest... body..."

But as soon as he began to sleep, Zwei and Koromaru dropped by and both poked their heads up. "Woof!" Zwei barked, getting Morgana's attention.

"What the... Hey, back off you guys, this is my couch!" Morgana hissed.

"*Whine* Koromaru whined and jumped onto the couch along with Zwei as they began to lick Morgana.

"Ugh...! This isn't some game! This not what game looks like. Go away!" Morgana retorted, yet the dogs continue to persist. "Ugh... dumb dogs... Whatever..."

Then again Zwei began to cuddle with the cat along with Koromaru, sandwiching Morgana. "Gyaaah! Hey, I didn't asked for this! These are clearly unauthorized snuggles, or cuddles, or whatever!"

Yet, the dogs didn't budge and began to rest, cuddling together. Even Morgana, gave into his fatigue. "Oh, alright, fine! But if you guys tell anyone about this, I will scratch you guys so badly, you'll bleed." Morgana warned. The dogs agreed with licking him as they proceed to take a nap.

Ruby and Akira peeked behind the room door and silently took a cute picture of a cat and pair of dogs cuddling together.

* * *

Mortal Frienvalry

During her trip, Weiss was looking around a bookshop where she finds a certain book that she wanted nobody to see her grab. She looks around if any of her friends were nearby and looks back to the book on the shelf only to realize that Yosuke was already reading it. "Hey! I saw that book first, Yosuke! You probably don't even read!" Weiss demanded.

"Oh, relax, Weissy-chan, you can have it after I finish." Yosuke brushed her off. "Hold on... I didn't know you were a fan of manga?" He wondered with surprise. Someone like Weiss has a liking to foreign comic books? Weiss blush in embarrassment, as she took out Myrtenaster and froze Yosuke in an ice block while dropping the manga. "Oh... come... on...!" He stutters in the cold ice block. Weiss took and walked away. "Hey, don't just leave me like this!" He staggers.

* * *

Later in town, Weiss and her teammates were about grab a lunch at a nearby lunch wagon. "Four sets of your finest, what you guys say 'bentos', if you would." Weiss ordered as she pulled out her lien card.

"I'm sorry, but we've just sold out the last of our stock, all we have are the riceballs." The clerk apologized.

"All out? But how!?" Weiss questioned as Team RWBY noticed Team NYCA next to the stalls as Yosuke placed his Lien card back in his wallet.

"Sorry, these bentos are really popular. You guys should've came sooner." Yosuke told them.

"Aw man..." Ruby groaned as she notices Weiss breaking a blood vein. "Uh... Weiss-?"

Weiss came up to Yosuke and jabbed him into the gut, making him fall to the floor. "Guh! Wh-Why...!?" Yosuke weakly questioned as Weiss walked away with the other looking to each other in confusion.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Seta confronted the two students who were making a fuss in town that day. "I think you'll find my report quite thorough, if annoying." Weiss stated as they both share glares at each other. "I spared no inaccurate details."

"'Frigid bookstore chaos' and... 'Convenient Store-related assault'?" Seta repeated as she reads their report.

"It's like she's always mad for the wrong reason, I swear!" Yosuke exclaimed as he still pressing the pain on his stomach. "Seriously, what was that about?"

"That's incredibly shameful..." Seta noted.

"I couldn't agree more!" Weiss eagerly agreed. "I propose a leash with a stun baton to modify his behavior." She suggested.

"Wh-What!? H-Hey, why the hell are you suggesting that S&M stuff, I'm not a masochist!" Yosuke retorted. "Plus those shocks are my weakpoint!"

"Ahem!" Seta interjected, getting her student's attention. "I'm referring to the time and energy you both wasted on each other. You do know that such behavior isn't acceptable, even at Beacon Academy." She gave a sternful lecture to them.

"Yeah... technically..." Yosuke sighed.

"I supposed..." Weiss muttered.

"Very good. Now please shake hands and apologize." Seta asked.

"I will is she will." Yosuke said as he offered his hand.

"*Scoff* I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, due to my professionalism and incredible self-control." Weiss declared as she shook hands with him

"... You call that 'incredible self control? There wasn't even a hint of that professionalism crap." Yosuke muttered, which triggered Weiss to break a fuse.

"Oh, your are DEAD!" Weiss exclaimed as she pounced on Yosuke which the whole beatdown produced a comic cloud.

"Hmm... Flirting did seem less destructive back in m day." Seta sighed as she watches them fight once more. "*Sigh* What it feels to be young again..."

"Ow, stop pulling my hair, dammit!" Yosuke demanded.

"Like you can even tell!" Weiss retorted.

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there - Lyn, Shoji Meguro**

 ***Keeper of Lust - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Will Power - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Decisive Battle (FFXIV ver.) -** **Nobuo Uematsu**


	7. Gaius's Palace Part III

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **Gaius's Palace: To Lead by Example**

No Date Confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Morning

"So... you saw more of me than you should..." Gaius muttered with a depressing sigh, as if he was looking ill.

"I'm... so sorry..." Ruby apologized as she feared the worst.

"Don't be. I suppose it was my fault for falling into a coma in the first place." Gaius assured.

"But wasn't it some sort of mental shutdown? I heard people actually died from those." Ruby assumed.

"True... but I didn't die yet, haven't I?" Gaius smiled calmly and pondered. "Either the Phantom Thieves did take my heart, or maybe they were thwarted before they had the chance... but I have my doubts they would go to far to change my heart just because they claim that I'm a villain." He frowned. "I never go too far. I became a leader in order to prove that point in my life. Everything that I lost, what my teammates lost, everything we been through, that is what made me what I am today."

"Yeah, I heard." Ruby nodded. "You really are a good person."

"Which is also why those thieves haven't change my heart, yet." Gaius pointed out. "Do you know why?"

Ruby recollected her thoughts why they didn't take his heart. "Because you had a friend who gave you a hand...? A strong and powerful person in mind or..." She checked her memories but still came up with blanks.

"Even still affected by the drugs, you seem to be closer to the truth." Gaius chuckled.

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

8/01 **Shibuya, Japan** Evening

"... To be more thorough, I am a student of Kosei High, a school different than the ones my friends are attending." Yusuke added as they continued walking towards Leblanc.

"He's really good at art." Ann mentioned.

"Interesting. Perhaps you can commission an art piece for me?" Weiss considered.

Ryuji scoffed in disagreement. "You might wanna be careful askin' him, he might actually-"

"... If I draw for you, may I ask to draw you nude?" Yusuke requested, shocking everyone in the group.

"Wh-What!? Absolutely not!" Weiss exclaimed blushing.

"Oh, that would be rich..." Yosuke laughed as Weiss pounded a block of ice on him in irritation as she then stormed off.

"Is she still undecided...?" Yusuke wondered.

"I think that's no..." Pyrrha point out with a sweat-drop.

* * *

8/01 **Cafe Leblanc** Evening

They entered the Cafe as Sojiro is reading his newspaper until he notices the students coming. "Welcome back. I trust that you guys were enjoying your sightseeing?" He asked.

"It was a terrific experience, that they're exhausted. Think we can have some curry for dinner?" Akira suggested.

"Coming right up." Sojiro confirmed as heads into the kitchen.

"Curry again...?" Weiss groaned.

"Hmm... Sakura-san, you think we can eat upstairs? In order to open up more seats for other customers?" Akira suggested.

"Fine by me. Just make sure you don't start a ruckus." Sojiro warned him as he nodded in response, taking the pot of curry upstairs. Sojiro was amazed by how Akira was able to make a lot of friends.

Akira brought the pot of curry and shared it with the huntsmen-in-training. At the same time, they began to review their palace infiltration. "So what did you huntsmen think about the palace so far?" Morgana asked.

"I've thought those palaces were like those dungeons we face in the TV world, but that was nothing compared to Mr. Erston's Palace." Jaune compared.

"The... TV world?" Ryuji repeated.

"I mentioned that to you guys before, remember? It's like another world that's in this metaverse like the same place or so..." Yu mentioned.

"Clearly you and your comrades have some experience when it comes to the Metaverse and the Shadows, and now you are dealing with the creatures of Grimm in reality? You all certainly have your work cut out." Yusuke complimented.

"Yeah well, saving the world one at a time, our job as Huntsman and Huntress is never ending." Ruby chuckled in response.

"Anyways, we managed to acquire the third key, now we need the forth in order to unlock that certain room." Makoto noted.

"There is is still more rooms to uncover, and with that recent surprise, we'll have to be more extra careful from now on." Yu stated.

"That's good and all, but what about Naoto and Rise? We'd be over the palace if we had them helpin' us." Kanji recalled.

"Oh yeah, Rise-chan scan the palace. It would be a cinch to find the room with the last key." Chie realized.

"Rise?" The Phantom Thieves wondered.

"She's a friend of ours, she's our navigator that helped with our investigations." Yosuke explained.

"That would certainly help us if she were able to help us. Is she available somehow?" Makoto asked.

"Dunno, didn't say anything when she left to work on her idol stuff." Kanji mentioned.

"Idol stuff...? Hold on, are you referring to the idol Rise Kujikawa? Also known as Risette?" Ryuji recalled.

"Indeed! Rise-chan is our member of our Team KRST!" Teddie answered proudly.

Ryuji: "For real!?"

"But if she's too busy with her business, we can't really help it if she's already preoccupied." Makoto mentioned.

"We made a lot of progress in the palace, after all. I guess will fine without the help." Ruby assumed.

"Yeah! One step in saving the world!" Nora cheered.

You're off saving the world, but who's saving the ones suffering from the adults...?" Ryuji joked with sarcasm.

"The adults?" Yang recalled. "Come to think of it, I'm curious how you guys are into this business. Why become Phantom Thieves in the first place?"

"You know, we're all curious about that as well." Weiss agreed. "You Shujin students are not entirely combat ready from our viewpoint.

The student huntsmen stared at the Shujin students, including the Kosei student besides them. "I suppose this might actually be a great opportunity to get to know each other better. Some of you knows every detail of my past." Yusuke suggested as he look to Yu and Yosuke. "How much do you know about Madarame?"

"Madarame? That fake artist?" Blake asked. "We were told that he confessed his crime about the 'Sayuri', about the plagiarism?"

"Correct. In truth, it was my mother's painting that reflected herself, a self portrait." Yusuke told them much to the Student Huntsmen's surprise.

"Bastard stole something personal and painted over it and made it to look like 'his' damn artwork." Ryuji followed up.

"No way... then how come the police didn't do anything?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, didn't your mom do anything about it?" Yang included.

"No, that was a long time ago, and my mother passed away due to a seizure." Yusuke said with sadness in his tone. "And the worst part is when he crossed the line. Taking the Sayuri and leaving my mother to die." He stated with everyone looking at him with jaws dropped especially the student huntsmen, with some of them dropping their cups they were holding. "Oh, I apologize if I made you all uncomfortable..."

"No, no! It's just... I never knew that there would be such evil people like him out there." Ruby said with a distraught tone.

"And the police? Why haven't they investigated this? Surely they would look into this, would they?" Chie asked.

"I do not know, it was a long time ago and Madarame was using me the whole time." Yusuke shook his head. "I was under his 'guidance' until I met the Phantom Thieves."

"Madarame was already a sketchy person when we heard from a source, he eventually became our target afterwards." Ann added.

"And you thieves recruited Kitaguwa afterwards? But how were you guys able to enter his 'Palace'?" Weiss wondered.

"We used the meta-nav." Ryuji answered as he took his cell scroll out, showing a familiar app. "Not sure how it appeared, but this is what gets us into the palace."

"Wait a minute, that app!" Ruby exclaimed as she too her scroll out. It revealed that the app she tried to delete refused to be deleted. "No way, I thought I deleted it..."

"You have the app, too? And I'm guessing you tried to delete before?" Akira asked.

"Was it the same you guys as well?" Ruby asked as her friends peeked onto her scroll, focusing on the eye with a red background.

"I don't know about as well, it just appeared on our scroll." Makoto agreed, nodding.

"In order to infiltrate the host's palace, is that we will need 3 keywords; the name of the target, their location and the distortion." Yusuke explained.

"For Gaius's case, it was 'his name', the 'Black Fang HQ', and... well... 'White Tiger'."

"White Tiger? That's... very elaborate for distortion..." Yu mentioned.

"Yeah, funny that you guys mentioned, I was the one who found out the word of the term, in my history class." Yusuke mentioned.

"That's also an odd clue. Normally the keyword for the distortions is namely a place of the location. Kaneshiro with his Bank, Madarame and his museum, and Kamoshida and his Castle. There wasn't supposed to be a deity's name in one's distortion." Morgana told them.

So it means that Gaius is a special case? I think we've already covered that." Weiss recalls.

Silence filled the room for the moment... until the young huntress decides to speak up. "So... what about you guys? How did you guys join up?" Ruby asked the Shujin Students.

"Funny how you guys mentioned. It was when I discovered the metaverse during the raid of Kaneshiro. Specifically I've been asked by the Principle to look into the Phantom Thieves." Makoto told them. "He even implied academic prospect repercussions if I couldn't produce results. Especially mentioning my sister, of all people."

"She's that strict prosecutor? She literally chewed me and my team durin' a trial overseas." Kanji recalled.

"Even when we won the case, I really fell for Sae-chan for her assertiveness." Teddie mentioned as the others sweat-dropped.

"Ever since our father died on duty, I've always been trying to be the best honor student in order to alleviate the burden on my sister, given to her status as a prosecutor and my guardian." Makoto continued. "I've might have actually stepped in too far at that point."

"No kidding, you made yourself bait in order to get us into Kaneshiro's palace." Ann noted.

"She was a special customer at that point, that allowed us to infiltrate his palace." Morgana included.

"Yes, well. I can bet that you guys know where this goes." Makoto turns to the Student Huntsmen. "The way I see it, due to my own investigations, I have to believe that the Phantom Thieves are just."

"I don't get it. Why would the principle make his students do something like that? I mean, didn't he know that you guys may be dangerous that he claimed you to be? Why risk your safety?"

"He probably wanted to get this case over with. I even heard that he was considering to use you guys to hunt the Phantom Thieves." Makoto mentioned.

"Ironic how the supposed Phantom Thieves are right in front of us." Weiss jokingly note and the Phantom Thieves looked her with unamused expressions.

"Uh... Weiss?" Ruby stared

"Calm down, I would have told the authorities in a heartbeat if I didn't realized what's been happening." Weiss reassured. "With the ability to change someone's hearts, you can imagine that there's a lot of people out there who want other hearts to change."

"That's true..." Blake agreed as they both reminisce about their own case.

"Well... I guess it's our turn then?" Ann continued. "Back then, I move to Mistral a while back, but moved back to Japan eventually. I never thought I'd see Ryuji going to the same high school, though.

"Yeah, we ended up in different classes and stopped talkin'. She's still the same girl back in middle school, by the way." Ryuji snickered as Ann gave him a cold stare.

"I suppose it's a good thing that you guys are friends once again, not in a social way." Yukiko giggled.

"As for me... pretty much a normal story for a rotten kid." Ryuji stated as he told his tale. "It was just me and my Mom when my Dad left. I was also trying to get into the Black Fang guild with my running skills so I could make things easier for my mom." He explained a he leaned back. "Back when I was a first year, my mom got called out to school for me raising my hand at Kamoshida. And that bastard broke my leg in 'self-defense', too. Every teacher there bought into it."

"We heard that he abuse the students in beating them up, even sexually harass the girls on the team." Yang mentioned. "And the reason they didn't say anything was because he was a Black Fang veteran or something?"

"Naoto-kun said he wasn't even supposed to be teaching at all. Makes me wonder why they employed someone like him in the first place." Yukiko wondered.

"Yep, I had nothin' to lose, after what the Kamoshida prick did." Ryuji added. "So... you guys can guess what we did. And he confessed to the student body after we changed his heart."

"The way you described this Kamoshida, he is truly a vile pig." Pyrrha gave a detested expression.

"He really is. He even went so far to push... push someone to suicide." Ann stated in a sad tone.

"... At least he's behind bars, am I right?" Yang assured with a thumbs up, after a moment of silence in the air.

"Hahaha... Yeah." Ann laughed whimsically.

"So... what's your story, Akira?" Ruby asked. "Are you victim of rotten bad guys?"

"Not just some random victim, his situation tops off all of us. Being labeled for a crime he didn't commit." Morgana told them, giving the Student Huntsmen a confused look.

"Akira was... framed...?" Jaune said, with his eyes widened.

"I was trying to save a women and I ended up being accused for assault. I didn't know what was going on either and the women stayed quiet and fibbed the whole thing in that guy's defense, even when he fell on his own." Akira scratched his frizzy hair."

"You can't be serious...! You were trying to protect that lady and you got into trouble?!" Ruby exclaimed in anger.

"And you went to court only to get a guilty verdict, too?" Blake added. "Unbelievable..."

"Sounds like a guy to break his legs, who is he and where can we find him?" Nora asked and declared.

"Nora, stop!" Ren demanded as he pulled her back to her seat.

"The hell!? Friggin' cops got the wrong guy! Pisses me off that they label someone innocent!" Kanji exclaimed with fury in his tone.

"This man is certainly the kind of person whose heart you thieves should steal." Yukiko agreed while twirling her tail. "Do you know that man?"

"If only I could. It was a long time ago and it was dark, so I couldn't know who I was facing or know who he is." Akira shook his head.

"I'm sure you were shock to be arrested for a crime you didn't commit." Blake stated in sincerity.

"Whelp... you heard our reason for becoming Phantom Thieves." Ryuji stated. "This world is eff'ing messed up. The weak're left to fight for themselves, while rotten adults get away with whatever they want!"

"And those in power don't do anything to help the situation." Morgana added. "I only hope that Raiden is right about Gaius that he isn't as bad as the rest of the adults.

"No one knows about the Phantom Thieves" Yusuke said. "If we can change the hearts of the corrupted individuals, we would be able to show what true justice is. Only then we'd be able to make everyone come to their senses."

"And that's why you guys remained anonymous, considering all of your stories thus far, I say we all might have something in common, in a way." Ren chuckle as he sips his tea.

"Well... it sure ain't 'cause of anything good." Ryuji chuckled everyone else followed in on laughing.

"Similar, huh... I'm the only one who doesn't fit in..." Morgana muttered in depression as Blake and the other turned to him. "I don't have any memories to look back on."

"Were you hit with amnesia?" Ruby asked.

"Probably. We could search the whole world and we wouldn't find a bigger misfit than the cat. That's also the reason why we're goin' into palaces in the first place.

"I bet your past is just as troubling as the rest of us." Blake assured.

"I actually feel like I've known Morgana for a really long time, too. It's so strange that I can't even put it in words." Ann mentioned.

"Look, I'm helping you guys out for my own sake. Don't get me wrong!" Morgana retorted in a tough tone. "If you guys don't get any stronger, investigating the Palaces won't be anything but a pipe dream!"

"One second you're depress, the next you're acting like a tough guy. You're an interesting cat, ya' know?" Yang said as she scratches his ear.

"Hey, I'm not- Oh!" Morgana moaned as he showed his belly to Yang, scratching. "Ooooooohhhh yeeeeaaahhh... that feels goooood..." He purred with everyone laughing and sweat-drops.

"That being said. Does anyone outside this group know who you guys are?" Weiss asked as the laughter died down to a serious atmosphere.

"Only a few people who trusts us, but that's it. No one, not even... Sojiro knows about us." Akria stated as he gives his friends a stern expression. "We do this in order to save people from being victimized from those who exploit people.

"We're going as far with as can. I want to punish those corrupted adults and give courage to people in trouble." Ann declared.

"Damn straight!" Ryuji nodded.

Being a member of the Phantom Thieves will surely help me grow, both as an artist and a person." Yusuke added.

"Of course, under my guidance,there's nothing we can't accomplish together!" Morgana agreed.

"That's good to hear. And we will help as long as we're here." Yu nodded as well as his Investigation Team.

"We'll help however we can, too. Just as long we're dealing with the bad guys and all." Ruby agreed along with her Teammates and Team JNPR nodding as well. "I hope we can get along just well. I'd like to share our tale next time we have this party."

"Sound like a great idea." Makoto agreed. "We'd love to hear how you guys wanted to become Huntsmen."

Ruby: "Sure!

Chie: "And me and Yukiko will make something this time-"

"NO!" The Student Huntsmen declared, shutting down Chie suggestion.

"I... guess that's a good thing, all things considered." Yosuke sighed as he checked the date on his cell scroll. "Look at the time..." Yosuke mentioned.

"Whoa, it's this late?" Ann exclaimed as she looked that the clock in the room.

"I guess now's a good time to call it a night." Jaune suggested with everyone agreeing.

* * *

They gave their plates to Akira as they all headed down stairs some of the students noticed Sojiro on the phone with a stern expression. "I see... alright, alright. I'm about to close up and head out, don't worry." He assured someone on the phone and hung up. "Are you guys done? You certainly took your sweet time."

"We've just realized how late so we're going now." Ann mentioned.

"Thank you for the curry. Although is that the only dish you have on your menu?" Blake asked.

"Probably." Sojiro bluntly answered, much to the Faunus Huntress disappointed sigh.

They were about to head out until they see a portrait hung up in the shop. It displayed a women hold an infant with a branch with Sakura blooming. "Oh hey, what's this?" Ruby asked.

"That, my friends, is the Sayuri." Yusuke answered.

"The Sayuri? Wait, I heard on the TV that the painting was stolen. Is this a copy of it?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, although just another replica of the original unfortunately." Yusuke mentioned as he then frowned. "... This is a painting of 'A women who knew her death was coming painted her last wishes, for the son she would leave behind'." He described with a sad tone. "It's a real shame when you think of it, with the child knowing he will not be able to see his mother's face."

"... Yusuke..." Ruby muttered as she and Yang looked to him with an understandable feeling.

"Um... I'm not much of an artist but I think we know that feeling." Yang reassured, patting Yusuke's shoulder.

"It's a beautiful painting in its own rights." Ren agreed.

"Thank you. It seems you huntsmen are men and women of culture." The Faunus Artist chuckled.

"So we're to meet again after your guy's class?" Ryuji asked as they all stepped outside

* * *

 ***Beneath the Mask -Instrumental ver.**

The students returned to the hotel with Sun and Neptune waiting for them in the lobby. "You guys certainly enjoyed yourselves." Sun waved as he and Neptune approached them.

"Yeah, sorry Sun-kun. We didn't know our trip would be this long." Chie apologized.

"Nah, it's cool. The all-you-can-eat sushi here was awesome! You guys missed some competition that was held here." The Monkey Faunus mentioned.

"An all-you-can-eat competion!?" Teddie exclaimed.

"We missed it!? Nooo!" Nora cried as they both wailed in despair as the others gave a sweat-drop.

"We ate curry, so I don't think we're that hungry." Jaune rest assured.

"Come to think of it? Has anyone seen my mother?" Yu asked.

"Narukami-sensei? Oh, yeah... she usually shows up so often and cuddles you, doesn't she?" Yosuke recalled.

"Don't remind me..." Yu sighed.

"Oh, that's the thing!" Sun realized. "She was called to fend off a Grimm attack in another 'ward' towards the west of here." He explained, with the students jumped with surprise along a bgm change.

 ***Restlessness**

"A Grimm attack!? Where!?" Ruby exclaimed.

"The Professor didn't told us. She actually told to tell you guys, not to engage, where ever you guys were." Neptune replied.

"Why's that?" Kanji questioned. "Narukami-sensei is puttin' her life on the line. You really think we'd sit back and play around!?"

"Hey, easy there Kanji, we said the same thing to her." Neptune calmly retort back. "She insists saying; 'The children are on vacation and shouldn't be bothered over trivial matters. Better to leave such matters to veterans' and she winked." He added.

Everyone was worried eventually Yu decided to call her personally... which she actually picked up.

 _"Yu-kun? Ah sweetie, how are you and your friends?"_ Seta asked as they heard unidentifiable growls, roars, metal clashing, and bullets flailing through the phone. The students were ultimately surprised by the sounds going on from their.

"Okaa-san! Did... I call at a bad time?" Yu asked.

 _"Oh not at... all!" *RIP* "Just another day on the field!"_ Seta answered, but the students couldn't help but hearing and odd sound from their end.

"I can hear it from here..." Yosuke fearfully stuttered.

"Um... will you need help by any chance...?" Yu asked feeling a little concerned.

 _"Not to worry! I'm pretty much a one-woman-army! A horde like this is a piece OF CAKE!"_ Seta roared as a sound of what the students think is puncturing a hole in something. _"At any rate, it's almost bedtime. Can you guide the other students to Shujin tomorrow? I'm afriad I won't be able to skip out from the attack."_

"Okaa-san." Yu said sternly.

 _"I assure you will not die from this. This is nothing but a common, everyday, routine."_ Seta reassured. _"... You know I'm am going to say no, correct?"_

"... Hai..." Yu affirmed with a sigh.

 _"Thank you. *BANG* It's just that, I implore you to keep seeing the bigger picture in some things. I think that's what Ozzy-sensei saw in you and your father."_ *CRACK* _"Now I think it's bedtime for you all."_ Seta pointed out as she hung up after all that unidentifiable sounds ringing from her end.

"And I'm not any younger..." Yu sighed. He looked to his friends in the lobby as they were completely baffled by what they heard.

"Uh... the hell was that?" Kanji stuttered.

"It sounded like complete chaos on her end." Yang followed.

"My lien's on the fact that we got called her in a middle of a Grimm attack." Jaune assumed.

"She must be that powerful to hold a conversation at the same time..." Pyrrha agreed.

"My mother said that she will be fine and that we're to stay on standby. I think we still have some classes to go back at Shujin Academy..." Yu told his friends.

"But what about the Grimm attack. Is Professor Seta gonna be alright?" Ruby asked.

"I agree with you, but from what we heard, there was more people than just my mother. I believe the Black Fang are with her." Yu mentioned, recalling the unidentifiable noises going on during their conversation. "Our only option right now, is to trust her, that she'll come back okay." He state with clear conviction.

"If Sensei believes in his mommy, I will believe in her, too!" Teddie agreed.

"She IS a huntress that attend Beacon before... I guess I'll believe her." Yang agreed with Chie nodding.

"If you guys say so..." Ruby reluctantly replied.

For now, they decided to take a break for the night.

* * *

8/01 **Distorted Black Fang Headquarters** Evening

Shadow Gaius approached the gate with one of the four locks unlocked. Gazing upon the entrance, he notices a white tiger approaching him from behind. **"Byakko-sama."** Shadow Gaius greeted as he faced him.

 **"You and I both know that those children are not with that wretched assassin. Is there a reason why you are still leading them on, even Narukami's pup?"** Byakko echoed his voice telepathically.

 **"I have a few reasons, especially the part on how you manage to distort my heart enough to form my palace."** Shadow Gaius crossed his arms as he still ponders. **"That, and I hoped to see how Young Narukami has grown since his time at Beacon."**

 **"I see..."** Byakko muttered as he laid down. **"Souji did asked us to protect his son from his enemies of this world in return, and you would want him to grow into his own person? I guess it's understandable, considering certain phenomenons are soon to occur..."** He agrees. **"I also notice the lass who bears the same eyes..."**

 **"Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose and the niece of Souji Narukami."** Gaius told him.

 **"... Well I'll be damned."** Byakko chuckled. **"So you intent on seeing those children's resolve?"**

 **"There are other students who I need to see as well."** Gaius mentioned. **"I was considering if you would like to see their determination."** He requested as he bumped his fist onto the barrier of the gate.

 **"Very well then, let's synchronize our power and see their reslove."** Byakko declared as he stood up and place his paw on the barrier as well, resulting in a flash.

* * *

8/02 **Beacon Academy** Early Morning

 **World of Remnant: Deities part 1**

Back in Ozpin's office, the headmaster began the day watching another audio document, one in particular regarding something related to Japan's deities.

"Well... that subject... yeah... I'm not even sure what to say about them... but one thing's for sure... they're the one responsible for warding the kingdom from the Grimm..." Souji stated as the screen lit to project a fox-like deity.

"It was said before their Kingdom was established, these deities exist as powerful animals that were intelligent as any human, possessing souls more refined compared our Aura. That's the oddest thing, these deities have enormous, powerful Aura that any Huntsmen had ever felt. Their presence is pretty overwhelming, considering my first encounter was a decent-sized cat." Souji stated as the projection transitions to a black cat the resembles one familiar.

"Ever since my encounter with one of them, apparently I've been treated like a valued guest there, assuming if it's because that I'm a huntsman, that is... but I soon discovered that something related to my heritage is what welcomed me there. I looked around the Kingdom during my stay and I noticed little to no signs of discrimination here, that's probably because of these animal-looking deities here. I was told that the discrimination held no value here and it was pointless enough that they placed a rule against that. This Kingdom might actually be some paradise... then again, I'm only assuming..." Souji stated as the screen show a silhouette with the deities surrounding the silhouette, followed by the screen showing the same silhouette looking elsewhere seeing other silhouettes, half of them with animal traits, were mingling.

"At any case, they have shown to use, what supposed to be fictional, Magic; casting many elemental spells upon their foes, manipulating their aura to form sharp claws, fangs, or any other defensive weapons on them. I think that's were the idea of Aura-channeling semblance came to light. A really good technique for Huntsmen and Huntresses of course they may have discovered many more techniques that ordinary Huntsmen, wouldn't have learn in Academies." He continued with he screen showing all sorts of beasts with colorful flares and manipulated aura onto their weaponized limbs. Even with humanoid silhouettes with aura channeled in their weapons fighting besides them against the surrounding creatures of Grimm.

Ozpin look intrigued by what he's learning.

"That aside, what I was told that a certain deities were the one holding the barrier up, four deities that supports a lord that keeps the barrier up. I can see why the natives took this advantage and began to grow their populace as it shown today, they have their shrines to employ the Deities' powers. I mean, if their shrines were to fall, the Grimm are likely to emerge out of nowhere. These Deities are clearly no friends toward the Grimm." Souji commented as the screen showed four creatures, a White Tiger, an Azure Dragon, a Vermilion Bird, and a Black Tortoise squared around a giant deity channeling their supposed energy towards the deity in the center as it casts a circled ward that stretch throughout the entire land as settlers build their structures all over. "You aught to check out these damn huge skyscrapers, the highest buildings in Atlas is nothing compared to the ingenuity by people of Japan did with their structures."

"Possible reproduction...? Uh whoa... that's a... pushing it a little right...?" Souji sighed as he reluctantly continued. "I don't know much about that, but I did realize that some Faunus in Japan have more than one animal trait, with less human traits otherwise. Normally, the Faunus I see have only one trait, like a tail, a pair of horns, claws, fangs, even... legs? Each of them separated on a different Faunus. However the Faunus here are actually shown with both Cat ears and tails, Fox faunus that same as well, Canine Faunus, as well with other Faunus of different species. That's probably what I meant when you mentioned what you said above. I'm guessing the Deities... mated... yeah, I'm not going there at this point, it's very embarrassing to say. Too bad!" Souji exclaimed back , referring to the person interviewing him. The screen projected the Deities on top with various Faunus silhouettes showed below as more Faunus silhouettes keeps appearing underneath the silhouettes above.

"I have to say, to think everyone in this Kingdom all put aside their differences to create this Kingdom and also because these deities were able to... remove the dangerous Grimm from their land. I see that the settlers showed their gratitude by putting up shrines all over the Kingdoms and that's a good thing. I can't imagine how this Kingdom would develop this far had the Deities hadn't held the barrier up. Somehow... I think that there's more to these deities than meets the eye. Maybe I could ask further, only time can tell." Souji commented as the screen showing the Kingdom fades to black.

Ozpin sipped his coffee as he swings his office chair to look to the view. "To think he learn so much, I'm not even half way done with these documentaries." The Headmaster pondered as sips his coffee once more.

* * *

8/02 **Shujin Academy** After School

The Beacon Students we enjoying their after school break outside the school gate. Uuuugghhhhh, that class was soooo booooring!" Nora stated as Teddie yawned.

"You say that after you guys slept through the whole class?" Yosuke recalled in disbelief.

"You slept half way, you dunce!" Weiss reminded him as she look back at the Academy.

"Any idea what the Principle wanted with our leaders?" Yang asked her wondering teammate.

"Who knows..." Weiss shrugged. "It probably has something to do with 'those' thieves."

* * *

At the Principle's office, the Team Leaders of their groups, Yu, Ruby, Jaune, Kanji, Cardin, and Sun were guided into the Principle's office by Makoto at the Principle's request. "Excuse me, Principle Kobayakawa. I have brought the students you requested."

"Thank you Niijima, I'll take it from here." The Principle nodded back as the Student Council President took her leave.

"Uh... hello... Principle?" Ruby greeted with a timid expression towards the Principle.

"Hello to you too. I trust that my school is teaching you all well?" The Principle asked delightfully.

"Your lessons are grade A material, if that's what you're going for." Yu commented.

"Seriously. Why can't your kind speak English? I can't even comprehend what your kind are even saying." Cardin complaint as the other Team Leaders sweat-dropped.

"Um... I guess he's not very comfortable speaking in Japanese..." Yu properly translated for the Foreign student.

"I see... *Ahem* Pardon my poor translations, I trust everyone else are doing okay?" Mr. Kobayakawa asked again.

"Yeah, our friends are translating for us. We were able to manage." Jaune said.

"That's good. Bu that aside, this isn't just the reason why I asked for you all." The Principle stated as he shifted his expression to seriousness. "I shall be blunt... I want to ask for your help in a certain matter." He requested.

"A job?" Sun asked.

"Yes. Have you all heard about those Phantom Thieves running around? One of my finest teachers, Suguru Kamoshida." The Principle mentioned. "His personality was completely changed and those blasted thieves are responsible for this."

"That... former Black Fang member?" Ruby recalled. "I don't know who that guy is, but I was told that he did some nasty things to the students here." Ruby assumed.

"Wha- I-I can assure you that Kamoshida-kun is a good person!" Principle Kobayakawa denied.

"We're not sure either. Well, we wouldn't know, we only heard from the students here." Jaune mentioned.

"Well... regardless of the rumors, I was hoping you guys can look into this for me? I'll pay you handsomely for your service." The Principle assured.

"How much?" Cardin as his eyes lit up, although Kanji punched him in the shoulder as they glared at each other.

"Hold on a moment. Didn't my mother talk to you about them, hasn't she?" Yu mentioned.

"... Yes." The Principle replied. "Unfortunately she was unable to come to an agreement. She think the Phantom Thieves are on the side of justice." He shook his head. "She would turn her back on the suffering students and let them run amok. Do you have any idea how she is staining her duty as a Huntress?" He stated, making Yu frown. "Narukami-kun, surely you would regain your family's honor by apprehending the wretched Phantom Thieves in her stead, correct?"

The other leaders turned to Yu, even Ruby looked to him with worry. "Will you please take back what you said about my mother? She's already busy as it is." He requested in an demanding tone.

Kobayakawa: "Wh-What!?"

"I trust her judgment. I trust my parent's judgement. I know that they are aware of what is around them and that they do their best to live their lives." Yu declared as he grip his chest. "And I know that they're aware of this situation. If they say they refuse, they did so because they have the right to decline. It the honor of being a Huntsman, a Huntress."

The Principle was speechless as they notice him sweating bullets.

"What, you gonna follow you mommy?" Cardin mocked.

"I'm being respectful to my teacher's orders. It's the same for everyone, even your parent's Cardin-san."

"Ain't you a bucket full of sunshine. You followin' your old man's footsteps or did you forget what he did?" Kanji recalled as Cardin grits his teeth.

"OKAY guys! break it up!" Jaune demanded, getting in between the delinquents.

"Yeah, sorry, but we have to obey our teacher." Sun agreeing with Yu. "If our teacher say no, we can't help you."

"... I... see... And here I thought Is was going to pay you all." Principle Kobayakawa. "Uh yes, I might have spoke to far..."

"If that's all, then we will take our leave." Yu bow as he and his friends left.

The Principle remained silent until he jumped when his cell scroll rung. "H-Hello, sir?" Kobayakawa stuttered.

* * *

8/02 **District Prosecutors Office** Afternoon

At a District Prosecutors Office, a suited bald man, known as the Director of Special Investigation Unit was on the phone with guests seated before him. The SIU Director wasn't pleased to hear about the resulting response. "[They refused!?]" He clicked his tongue. "[You really are useless.]" He stated before he hung up. ["Damn Huntsmen, unreliable parasites!]" He grunted. "[Pardon my outbursts, it seems my associates aren't up up to their task.]"

"Not at all, the person might have outlived his usefulness. You might even blame those thieves should something happened to him." Said the guest name Cinder. Emerald and Mercury sat aside from her while Adachi served as their translator. "Back to the subject..." Cinder beckoned Mercury to show him a picture of a destroyed shrine with a unusual Tiger symbol with it. "I believe that this will suffice?"

"[You managed to cage the beast...]" The Director chuckled maliciously. "[Very good, one seal away from gaining the power you need.]"

"I look forward to your continued service as well." Cinder replied back. "Now about Adachi's permanent record?" She mentioned as Adachi turned his eyes to her.

"[Very well, I'll get him off the hook. Make sure you deal with the other shrines and his record will be wiped clean.]" The SIU Director reassured.

"Of course." Cinder nodded as she and her companions left the room, leaving the director to his phone calls as Adachi looking back at him before leaving the room.

"You know he's not gonna make a promise like that, right?" Adachi reminded Cinder.

"That is no concern for us, we just need to remove the seals to release the so called Fearful one. Did you honestly believe THEY can bestow us more power?" Cinder reminded.

"Right... we needed the authority to turn a blind eye to the security in order to release a certain Grimm." He recalled the plan. "We'll certainly make a mess after that."

"The more seals we destroy, more the Grimm can enter the Kingdom, and the deadlier they can appear. These animals really made it difficult for the Grimm." Mercury chuckled.

"Yeah, the other three great deities will have their guard up... come to think of it, think we can hit the another shrine?" Adachi mentioned. "The inside man manage to stall the deity from its shrine so..."

"We lay low, and gather information elsewhere." Cinder followed up as they walked away.

* * *

8/02 **Black Fang HQ** After School

The students arrived at the usual spot. "It was nice for Mishima to show Sun and his Team around the city." Yang mentioned.

"It's for the best. They don't know anything of what we're doing." Blake affirmed.

"Nor can we afford more company. We can only get through much without getting caught with unnecessary attention." Morgana agreed as he popped out of Akira's schoolbag. "Let's go!"

They all nodded and the Phantom Thieves turned to Ruby, who was confused. "What?" She asks.

"You have the app right? Just input the keywords and we'll be heading in." Ryuji explained.

"Huh...? Ohh!" Ruby realized it and took her scroll out and started up the MetaNav. "So it has three slots on this. What should I type in?"

"It 'Gaius Erston, 'Black Fang HQ', and 'White Tiger', that should be the keywords." Ann stated as Ruby inputted the said keywords.

"Candidates found. Beginning navigation" The MetaNav declared as the space around the group began to distort as they entered the Metaverse.

* * *

 ****8/02 **Distorted Black Fang Headquarters** Afterschool

Soon enough they arrived to the Palace front with their cognitive outfits taken form. "Alright, we're here." Raiden stated.

Everyone prepared to infiltrate the castle until Mona brought up something to note. "Before we begin, we may have to give him a codename." The deformed cat pointed at Ren.

"Oh right, he has a Persona and a costume, too!" Chan realized.

"A Codename? Hmm..." Ren pondered in thought.

"He looks a Ninja, so I'm guessing something like a cool Ninja name?" Kaze assume.

"That would make 3 Ninjas in our group." Blake mentioned.

"How about Leaf? Dude's a lot more green that the others." Skull guessed.

"He wears green, but I don't think that isn't enough." Freya said with doubt.

"Say Ren, do you have a name in mind?" Rook asked.

Ren checked his outfit as he notices familiar flowers printed on his attire. "... Lotuses ." He muttered.

"Lotuses...?" Fox heard him.

"They're a native flower that blooms in my hometown. It's also the symbol of my decal." Ren explained as he came up with his answer. "If it is available, I would like to address myself as Lotus." He requests.

"It shows your elegance, that's for certain." Fox commented with confidence.

"Welcome to the group, Lotus!" Panther greeted.

"Alright, now that we got that out of the way, let's proceed with the infiltration! And try, for once, NOT to get caught." Mona demanded with a glare back at the Huntsmen who gave peeved expressions back at him. "Anyways, follow me. Let's head to the nearby safe room and we can start from there."

* * *

The group were brought to the safe room they were at and began there search at the supposed entrance to the treasure.

"This is where the treasure is, right?" Rouge recalled.

"That's right. With these two it's now three down." Morgana nodded as he placed the keys into their designated depression. 'The Ultimate Failure' key into the 'A New Possibility' depression, fitting right into it.

Rouge placed the 'Guidance' key into the 'Resolution' depression, which also fits as well. Just as the keys fit into their depression, their chains on the lock vanished. "Now we just need one left to go, right?" She assumed.

"That's right." Mona agreed as they look to the last lock; 'Loss'. "This key should be the last once we find it.

"After our trip here last time, I'm sure they've updated their security. We'll have to proceed with caution." Saber stated.

"Not to worry! I'll personally be your knight in shining armor!" Kuma declared.

"Yeah, be our meat shield, can you?" Kaze said in sarcasm, which irritated Kuma in response. The light heart laughter rung out as they returned to the task at hand.

They ventured through the corridors as they snuck past Shadows and defeated others that caught them in sight. Lotus, still new to his new Persona abilities has became more attuned to them and became more efficient to the group.

They eventually find a metallic door which was awfully out of place compared to the other doors. "I... think this door is one of those sliding doors we use in the military in Atlas." Blanc stated.

"Some door from Atlas?" Panther said as she then gave a scowl. "Oh boy..."

The Phantom Thieves, even the member of the Investigation Team took a moment of silence, leaving the Student Huntsmen wondering. "Is something the matter?" Rook asked.

"Sorry, it's just that, our Kingdom has a history with Atlas, it might have left an impression to us." Queen mentioned.

Wondering what they meant, they entered through the door and find another painting. This one display Souji on one side slamming his fist on the wall with frantic emotions with tears streaming from his eyes separating him from Nei, who had her hand on the other side of the wall who was also crying with a heavy heart, clenching her other hand into a fist.

"This painting..." Raiden muttered.

"It portrays a tragedy." Fox stated as he steps closer to the portrait. "You can tell by the expressions of those two individuals."

"You can tell?" Sakura asked.

"I'm an artist. I can tell by seeing this context; something has happened to the lady there. They call her Nei Yuuki, correct?" Fox asked.

"Hmm... My parents went silent and changed the subject whenever I mentioned her name, even Gaius-sensei..." Raiden explained.

"... One way to find out, right?" Skull suggested as they all nodded.

Wanting to see the truth themselves, they dived into the painting.

* * *

As the flash of light faded, they soon notice their surroundings of a facility with a huge interior room, filled with empty cages and other unknown materials.

"I never seen a facility like this before." Kaze mentioned. "Blanc, have you?"

"No, but..." Blanc nodded but noticed a symbol that struck familiarity to her. "No, this isn't right..."

"You noticed something? What about that symbol?" Joker asked.

"This symbol looks like it represents a company that had shut down over 15 years ago, the Flandresca Industries..." Blac answered, which staggers the students of Japan.

"Shit, the Flandresca... what!?" Skull exclaimed anger in his tone.

"Gods help us of such a facility existing..." Fox grunted.

"Huh... Sensei, why is everyone upset about this Flandresky-guy?" Kuma asked.

"Japan was in a situation where many Deities were being persecuted by a foreign group. I'm afraid it left an impressive strained relationship with Atlas..." Raiden explained.

"I was told that the company was meant to harness energy of unique species of animals to power future technology. That's what I heard about in Atlas." Blanc mentioned.

"That's Atlas's side of the story. But the 'Unique Species of Animals' is actually the term for our Kingdom's Deities." Joker continued.

"Those Atlesian scumbags didn't gave a damn when they went poaching in our Kingdom, its a frick'en offense!" Skull grunted, kicking dust away.

"Calm down, I'm not all the people from Atlas are not as you say." Blanc reassured. Considering that Blanc hailed from that Kingdom, they gave a sigh and calm down. "Besides, the General agreed that their goal was far from humane and supported to shut down the company. It should be defunct by now."

"That's a relief to hear, all things considering." Queen sighed. "Back to the matter at hand, we still need one last Key."

"Right, it must have something to do with this facility..." Chan mentioned. "There should be something going on right about-." She said as the facility started to shake violently as a big metal sliding door opens.

Souji, Seta, and Gaius, now older, runs through the door as they scan the giant room they're in. "A shipping bay?" Souji assumes in a tense expression eventually eyeing his sight upon a very older man wheeling away from them on his electric wheelchair, attempting to escape on a boat through a leading tunnel out. "That's as far as you can get, Revelt!" Souji exclaimed as he changes his sheathed weapon to a rifle form and pointed at him. "You got nowhere to run, old man!"

"Grr... Every little moment of my grand scheme, you, of all people, interfering from everywhere I stand!" Revelt roared as he glares back at the group. "Why can't you see that my (Undescriblable)-trons will change this damn world for the better!?"

"At the cost of the Deities you kidnapped from Japan, you not only poached them, you experimented on them, their flesh, and tormented our Kingdom's citizens! You have brought the Grimm into our Kingdom, with many casualties." Gaius stated in anger. "How will your toys even change this world, when there's the chance that no one will be in it!?"

"You're not gonna fool us, Revelt! We have the General backing us up and entire Kingdom against your damned operation!" Souji declared.

Revelt growled and stared menacingly towards back the team, especially towards Souji for some reason. "Grr... your existence has been the most irritating thing I ever seen. You are always have tormented me ever since I met you back then, and now you came back to make me suffer even more!?" He exclaimed as he grits his teeth.

"Back then... what?" Souji said with a confused look, but shrugs off and refocus to the task. "No matter, we're shutting down your operation, for good! You. Will. Surrender!" He declared as he and his Teammates pulls their weapons out.

"You thought bringing me to this world would forever punish me!? You will regret your existence!" Revelt declared as the black aura consumes him and grows.

"Uhh...! S-Sensei! I that's our cue!" Kuma exclaimed as more Shadows appears.

"We'll deal with theses pest, you got this partner?" Kaze said with a thumbs up.

"Yeah, Let's do this!" Raiden commanded as He, Rook, Rouge, and Lotus takes the front.

 ***Keeper of Lust**

The Shadow has taken form of a Life-Draining Spirit as steps forth before them. **"You have gotten in my way for the last time! I kill you here and now!"** The Shadow declared. He even cast **Eigaon** , towards Raiden with little effect.

"Well, that guy certainly has it out for your Dad, Raiden." Rook commented.

"That person would threaten our Kingdom, should he had his way. No surprised Otou-san took on a job like this." Raiden agrees as he summons Izanagi lunging in with **Raimeizan** , slashing at the Shadow with electricity added.

The Shadow roared as it retaliates with a **Dekaja** right after Rouge casts **Masukukaja** , denying the buff for her allies followed by a **Deathbound** , slamming its hand onto the ground, emitting a dark wave that was sent towards the four, as Raiden and Rook braced for the impact, Rouge and Lotus evades the attack by jumping over the wave, and uses Crescent Rose and Stormflower to returns fire upon the Shadow.

While they had its attention, Raiden skimmed through the Personas he had with him in order to discern the Shadow's weakness. That is until Rook charges in and tried to imitate the movement that Raiden use with **Raimeizan** and instead of any static on his sword it had a shining, aura coating the sword. "Take this! **Light Spear**!" Rook exclaimed as he thrust his sword as it launches a light beam, causing it to stagger into a downed state.

"Whoa, is this our chance?" Rook realized as they surround the Shadow.

"It weakness! Bless attacks will work!" Queen exclaimed as she punches a Shadow down.

Raiden then lead the All-Out Attack but as it dealt immense damage, the Shadow still stand. **"Attack if you dare! Come at me!"** The Life-Draining Spirit goaded as he erected a **Makarakarn** barrier followed by a **Tetrakarn** wall.

"Watch it! It'll repel both physical and magical attacks!" Morgana stated as he shot another Shadow with his slingshot.

"We can't touch it!?" Rook exclaimed.

"Not forever, they can only reflect one attack, afterwards the spell will no longer have effect." Joker mentions.

"The best way to nullify the barrier, is to do this!" Raiden state as he struck the Shadow with his weapon as it bounced him back, the Tetrakarn wall faded. "The wall's down, strike now!"

Rook had Odin charge forth and bash its shield in the Shadow's face, pushing it back and staggering it. "Lotus, press him down!" Rook commanded as Odin casts **Rebellion** on his teammate.

Lotus pulled StormFlower out and rain bullets upon the Shadow unloading the only clips he had on.

"He's on the ground! Let's go!" Rouge declared as they did another All-Out Attack, yet he still stands. "Holy cats, this guy won't go down!" She grunted.

"He may be a formidable Shadow we've ever faced... but still, we can't lose!" Raiden reassured as he had a Persona cast **Makara Break** , negating the **Makarakarn** barrier. "You can't escape us!"

 **"Damn you, Souji!"** The Shadow exclaimed, assuming Raiden is his Father as it unleashes **Maeigaon** , hitting the four, even dropping Rook at his weakness. The Shadow then lunged towards the downed Huntsman, but Ravana immediately casts a **Tetrakarn** wall on Rook, repelling the Shadow's strike back at itself.

"Lotus!?" Rook exclaimed with surprise.

"It seems there's more to my Persona that meets my eyes." Lotus said as he silently watches his Persona at work. Ravana swung its blades of its four arms. Cutting and slicing the Shadow back with **Tempest Slash** as one of the multiple attacks caused the Shadow to fall once more. "Third times the charm. Shall we?" Lotus signaled. And they unleashed another All-Out Attack and this time they went for broke, ending with Lotus striking pose. "With Grace." He state with the silhouette of the Shadow spewing blood in the background.

The confrontation has been concluded.

* * *

The Shadow dissipated as the others have dealt with the Shadows on their end. "You guys alright?" Joker asked.

"We made it. I take it that we're all accounted?" Raiden assumes as he scans for all of their friends.

"Mhm, we are all okay on our side." Sakura assured.

"These Shadows are nothin' but easy pickings, you should've let had a crack at that bastard!" Bones boasted.

"What? You were totally struggling with that other shadow that got to you, dude." Skull reminded.

Bones: "Like hell I did!"

Skull and Bones continued to rant towards each other, so everyone else focused on why they're here. "Anyways... Do we have the last Key now?" Rouge asks.

"Yes. Hmm... seems we're in luck, the key is whole." Mona realized as he showed them the key "Moving Forward".

"Oh sweet! Now we don't have to fight another Shadow after this." Kaze sighed with relief.

"Yeah, I rather not face another powerful Shadow again." Rook sighed heavily.

"You did great there, Rook. I'm proud to see that you're doing fine." Freya cheered him back up.

"Alright, we have our final key, let's head to the seal. Will explain more further." Mona stated as they see Souji and his teammates boarding a boat.

The Team Leader was frantic with concern as he was on his scroll. "Nei, we've secured the old man. We're getting ready to leave." Souji told her on the scroll although he seemed baffle by what he heard. "What!? Wait, we can't just leave you here!" He exclaimed with his expression turning bleak for the worst. "Of course I trust you, but I still don't get why YOU need to do this. I can hang around and-" Souji flinch as Nei spoke loudly from her end. You can't be serious..."

The ground quake as the boat also shook. "Souji, whatever she's doing, we have to take the chance and trust her." Gaius walk off the boat to him as he looked back to his partner.

"Nrrgh... the job comes first, right...?" Souji grunted in despair. "Nei, once we bring him in, we'll make sure to come back and get you out of there. I swear on my life. Stay put, okay?" He affirmed with getting a response back and hung up. He and Gaius got on the boat and drove off out of the cave.

However the facility shook even more violently, prompting the Persona Users to cue their exit as the door opened their way out. The next thing they see is a what looks like a banquet, with everyone cheering for success for something. The next thing they see is Souji sitting down voided in depression.

"The threat has been terminated and those Deities are grateful, why isn't he relived about it?" Someone in crowd questioned.

"Enough." Gaius said otherwise. "Having to hear that his relative is presumed dead and a friend... gone, you can't expect him to sound relieved after that." He stated with a scoff as he sat on the same couch with him, offering a drink. "None-alcoholic." He said as Souji took the drink.

"You know, I would like see that old man squirm for what he did, but wouldn't be me, huh?" Souji wondered as he sipped his drink.

"Pretty much. With everything we heard from him, it seems he knows you pretty well, and we've only met him some times these couple months. I'd hate to imagine this whole thing doesn't go full-circle in some way." Gaius informed. "Which makes me wonder, perhaps one of your relatives set him off somehow?"

"I doubt it. I never heard of him before, it's like he came out of nowhere... not that it matters at this point." Souji mentioned as he frowned.

"The damage has been done, that I know." Gaius reassured as he sipped his drink. "And this success has won us a thousand battles. We managed to prevent another war and cleared your name in Vale. Nei-chan's incredibly selfish to leave you despair."

"It's funny too, to think she was actually intent on going to some engineering class in Atlas... I guess it's a little late for regrets, huh?" Souji chuckled as some glimmer of shine reappeared in Souji's eyes.

"We certainly have a long way to go, especially to regain our selves for the sake others at this point. Hearts and minds alike, after all." Gaius replied as he raised his glass as the crowd notices him. "For those who have fallen." He declared.

"Yeah, well... one of these day, you're probably end up leading your own kingdom, or is that why still have me around?" Souji smiled confidently as he emptied his glass. "To those who're still with us." He declared as the crowd clapped and applaud as the two Huntsmen started to laugh as the scene faded out.

* * *

The group returns to the Palace room as they turned around to see the portrait displaying Souji with a clenched fist to his chest as he gave a brave face forward with the person Nei, above and behind Souji, with her hand on his back and a gentle smile.

"Despite the odd that were against him, his valued comrade continues to push forward toward the future, even after death." Fox described.

"Aw man... I guess that's why Narukami-san never mentioned his past, didn't he?" Kaze wondered.

Raiden was silent at first, as he figured that his Father may seen a tragedy. "Nei must have meant a lot to my Father..."

"Nei Yuuki, was it?" Rook muttered, as he pondered about something amiss. "I swear, I've heard Yuuki before... wait, wasn't there a guy, our age, that had that name?"

"Minato Yuuki? He was with us a couple days back, but he had to head to his home town." Chan recalls. "You think he's related to Nei-san?"

"That bear-utful angel related to another friend of ours? This is incredibly a beary small world...!" Kuma realized.

"We don't know much my parent's past, but we do have the last key. This is it, everyone." Raiden affirmed with everyone nodding in response.

Just as everyone left the room, Saber picked up on something. "!? Something is coming our way!" She alerted.

"Hm? Wait, I don't hear-" Skull replied but was silent by Fox covering his mouth.

"I hear it too. In numbers!" Fox added.

"Into the hiding spots, now!" Joker exclaimed as they did hid through out the covers in the hallway.

Just then, they see Cognitive Yu with Shadow soldiers following him as they arrived at the door that the Phantom Thieves came out from. "This is the one, my lord." He said as a white-colored Tiger appeared before the entrance and roared loudly. Soon after, the door dissipated as it distorted back into a sliding door of this castle, and the company left the area, allowing the group to come out of hiding.

"No way... can it be...?" Mona muttered with surprise.

"The hell, what did that Tiger do?" Skull wondered.

"It couldn't of just roar in order to camouflage a door..." Blanc said with denial

But when Sakura opened the door in questioned, the room looked so ever plain, it blended into the environment, with the painting disappearing. "The Painting's gone, too!"

"Lucky us, that we got the last key, though..." Kaze sighed. "But is up with that Tiger? I never thought Gaius-san, would think that low of Byakko..."

"Byakko?" The Beacon students wondered.

"One of the four Deities Lords that watches over our Kingdom. There's a lot of history about them, but we can tell you all later." Queen reminded.

"Alright. To the seal!" Rouge declared.

After traversing the castle, they finally reached the seal. "Alright, this should do the trick..." Mona assured as he place the Key into the depression "Loss". The seal finally faded away.

"The seal's gone. Let's go!" Joker exclaimed as they all entered into the bamboo forest, with Shadow Gaius stepping out of hiding with Byakko peeking out as well.

 **"Those children certainly saw much already, haven't they."** Byakko yawned.

 **"So they have."** Shadow Gaius agreed.

* * *

Soon enough, they arrived at a dead end, within a misty and empty area with bamboo trees all round an open clear field, they all see a formless cloud of rainbow energy in the center.

"Wait, is that the treasure?" Blaze questioned.

"That's right. Now we have to get Gaius to get the treasure to materialized." Mona answered.

"Materialize...? What do you mean, like making something important real?" Rouge guess.

"Correct. Desires originally have no physical form by nature, normally, we have to get the real person to become aware that their desires are in fact a Treasure. When their conscious that their desires might be stolen, the Treasure will show itself. We warn them, telling them that 'we're gonna steal your heart'." Mona explained as he approaches he supposed treasure as Nora tries to grabbed the formless cloud to no avail.

"We normally send a calling card, like what a phantom thief does." Skull simply explained.

"So, in order to get the treasure to appear, we need to make the real Gaius to think something important is being stolen." Blanc repeated.

That's right. At any case, with our infiltration route is secured, we'll have to return to reality and send him a calling card, then come back to take the treasure.

"Then let's head back out for now. I think we all deserve a quick break." Joker stated as they all agreed.

* * *

8/02 **Black Fang HQ** Afternoon

They eventually returned to reality as the same spot they came in. "One other thing, is there a time limit on how these treasures will stay for long?" Blake asked.

"That's right, we send the calling card out, the treasure won't stay for long. Once the the impression is gone, it will disappear. It won't stay materialized forever." Morgana explained.

"So once we send the card, this will be only shot, yeah?" Kanji assumes.

"We'll only have about a day at most." Makoto told them.

"Well, that's like no time at all..." Chie sighed.

"Leave the calling card to us, we'll make sure to give him a good wake up call." Ryuji stated.

They all nodded, but Makoto thought otherwise. "Wait a moment, while we do have his palace, but how will we get him to see the card?

"Why not leave a bunch of cards at the HQ? Wouldn't hat be easier?" Jaune suggested.

"Not a great idea, the Black Fang is filled with professional Huntsmen... with cameras to boot." Yosuke mentioned as they peek around the corners to see the HQ. "It'll be difficult to place those calling cards without being caught. They'll even think a cat will be suspicious."

"Their security is THAT tight!?" Weiss staggered. "Then how are we gonna make Gaius see the card?" She questioned.

"By personally getting closer to him." Yu suggested as they turn to him. "I've mentioned that he's a neighbor of mine after all.

"Oh, so we're going to his residence?" Ann realized.

"You think he'll let us in?" Akira asked.

"I think so. He trusts me, so I think he'll let us in... at least I hope." Yu assumes.

"Well, we still have some daylight to spare so... wanna pay a visit?" Ruby suggested. "I also wanna see what your house is like, too.

"I suppose it would be ideal to go his house; seeing that his HQ is lock tight." Morgana agrees.

"Alright. Follow me, will take the train there." Yu lead them to his neighborhood.

But soon as they all exited the alley, a Beowolf came running towards them. "Whoa, look out!" Morgana alerted.

Yu staggered to move away, but Yang moved in and punched it in its face, followed by an immediate loud crack as the blow broke off its neck as it went limp. "You alright?" She asked.

Yu nodded as another Beowolf appeared as it recklessly pounced upon the unsuspecting Huntress, a sharp thin metal rod punctured the Grimm's head from behind as it instantly died as it dropped to the ground. They turn to see their rescuer, revealing to be Seta. "Okaa-san!?"

"Yu-kun, goodness you're okay!" Seta sighed in relief as she held weapon in hand, a longbow of a unique design. "Is everyone else okay?"

"We're okay, but what' are these Grimm doing inside the city?" Akira asked.

"A Grimm attack after a Byakko's shrine fell... " Seta explained as she picked up a metal rod. "And without Gaius-kun to help coordinate the defense, half our guild is currently chasing after stragglers that got through and the other half is holding the defensive line."

"What!?" The Students asked but the Beacon Students were confused about one thing. "Wait, what about this shrine?" Ruby asked.

"You guys don't remember? I was explained in class today. Certain Shrines are what hold barriers up in order to prevent the creatures of Grimm from entering." Yukiko mentioned.

"So what the heck happened to Byakko's shrine?" Chie asked.

"That part is still unclear. Apparently, some hooligans trashed the Shrine while everyone was away, the security detail, and, including the Deity himself..." Seta explained.

"I see..." Yu muttered as he wondered.

"Well, can we help? Maybe we could-"

"No." Seta interrupted with a stern expression. "You are all to stay on standby." She ordered as the student protests.

"What!? Why!? We're Huntsmen, fighting Grimm is what we do!" Yang question angrily.

Kanji: "Yeah! You can't expecting us to-"

"Kanji, everyone, enough." Yu silent his friends. "While my friends have a point, if we can't help with the Grimm attack, will you allow us to look into Byakko's disappearance, Okaa-san.?" He suggested much to his friend's surprise.

"Yu-kun, what are you saying?" Seta asked.

"It's as Yang-chan said, 'We are Huntsmen.' We can't just ignore an impending threat. If we can't engage the Grimm, we could probably look for Byakko, his Shrine is in the city after all, we won't need to fight Grimm in the city that's right?" Yu explained.

"... Yu-kun, do you know something about Byakko's disappearance?" Seta asked.

"No, but it's a hunch. Besides, I am showing my friends around town after all." Yu stated.

"*Sigh* Well, I'm afriad you will have to call the tour off. I ask that you bring your friends back to the hotel, if you would." Seta requested.

"Aright..." Yu sighed back.

"Take care, my son." Seta told her son as she went elsewhere.

"We're not really heading back to the hotel, right?" Weiss assumed.

"But we are not allowed to engage. But that doesn't mean we need to turn in early." Yu said with a brave face.

"Do you have an idea about this situation?" Ann asked.

"I wasn't wrong about looking for Byakko. But I bet if we help Gaius back on his feet we may be able to prevent another Grimm invasion." Yu explained.

"Are you sure we can trust him? I mean he has a palace and all." Ryuji pointed out. "Is it possible that he planned this absence or somethin'?"

"Actually, Raiden, might be on to something. In fact, Gaius's Palace might actually be connected to Byakko." Morgana assumes.

"Connected to one of the four deities?" Ruby wondered.

"We can talk on the way. Raiden, if you would?" The Cat in the bag turned to Yu.

"Right follow me." Yu said as he began to guide them to the station.

* * *

On the train, they continued their conversation. "So, what's this about Gaius-san being connected to Byakko?" Yosuke asked.

"Remember that we saw a tiger in Gaius-sensei's palace? That may be the very same Deity that went missing." Yu recalled, much to their surprise.

"No shit...!" Ryuji grunted. "Does that mean, Gaius took the Deity hostage or somethin'?"

"Well that's an understatement. How is it even possible to kidnap a Deity?" Chie sighed in disbelief.

"I don't get it. You guys say that the Deities are powerful, couldn't that Byakko hold his own?" Jaune asked.

"It's as you say, Jaune-kun, powerful beasts that can fight. It's just so happens that there are many that can be a potential fighter, especially Byakko and other three Lords." Yukiko agreed.

"But then how would Byakko even be connected to Gaius in the first place? They say he's in a coma of sorts and the disappearance on the this Deity?" Weiss summarized. "Wouldn't it be the Deity Lord himself responsible for his illness?"

The students of Japan went silent. "It is... a possibility." Makoto answered as they turned to her. "There ways to 'synchronize' with the Deities in order to open up new abilities and techniques between the person and Deity."

"'Synchonize'? That's news to us." Blake mentioned.

Soon as Makoto was about to speak, the announcement wen through _"Now arriving; Toranomon. I repeat now arriving; Toranomon."_

"This is our stop." Yu declared as he and his friends stood up.

"Toranomon? But isn't that place a business district?

"That's right, my place is in the Toranomon Hills." Yu answered which shocked Yosuke, and some of his friends.

"What!? Dude, how rich are you?" Yosuke questioned.

"Yu's rich? What do you mean?" Nora asked.

"Toranomon's a business district, even has a history of the southern gate of Edo Castle, until it was torn down for modern development." Makoto explained. "Still I'm surprised as everyone else, I hear that the residency is usually luxurious from what I can tell."

"Yu-kun's is rich!?" Chie exclaimed.

"What the hell, man? Why haven't you told us about your place?" Ryuji questioned.

"No one didn't asked. I mean, my house is a huge building and all but..." Yu denied.

"'House' my ass, that's a luxurious Penthouse!" Yosuke exclaimed. "And you were doing random part-time jobs back in Inaba..."

"So I'm guessing Gaius's residence is next door to your apartment?" Morgana assumed.

"Not really, his residence is in the Toranomon Towers." Yu corrected.

"Holy shit, you guys been livin' the high life or something?" Kanji questioned with disbelief.

"Considering Narukami and Erston's history, they clearly were well-rewarded." Yusuke guessed.

"Hang on, if your relatives are that famous, then wouldn't your residence have equal security compared to the Black Fang HQ?" Morgana mentioned.

"I know the area well, I can show you blind spots where the cameras won't spot you." Yu suggested as they got off the train.

* * *

8/02 **Toranomon Towers, Japan** Evening

They arrived at the base of the residential building as they made their way up to Gaius's apartment. The hallways are refine and clean compared to normal apartment complexes. "I still can't believe that your that rich, Yu-kun." Chie commented.

"That honestly never crossed my mind." Yu replied.

"That never did, what you a blank slate?" Ryuji joked with ending with Ann elbowing him.

"You idiot!" Ann grunted as Ryuji felt the pain.

As they arrived at the floor of Gaius's apartment, they soon find a couple of Black Fang members cruising in front of their boss's apartment. "Hey there!" Yu greeted as the guards turn to him.

"Hmm? Hey, kid! Haven't seen you around for sometime." One of the guards greeted back as he notices his friends behind him. "Uh... And they are?"

"My friends I made during my trips." Yu mentioned. "Is Gaius-sensei around. I was hoping I would check if he's okay. I was told that he caught some illness or something?"

Both guards remained silent as they scanned Yu's friends. "... Okay. Just make sure your friends behave. You still have his keycard, right?"

"Yeah, thanks." Yu thanked as he took out his own Keycard.

"You have your own keycard? To Gaius's apartment?" Ren said with surprise.

"He often baby-sat whenever my parents were away." Yu replied as he and his friends entered his apartment.

Not before the guards muttered something. "I didn't expect the kid to make friends before." Said a guard, which motioned some students to eavesdrop.

"You think? Guess the ain't some husk after all." Another guard chuckled which cause some students to feel concerned.

* * *

8/02 **Erston Residence** Evening

They entered Gaius's apartment and it shows his traditional Eastern image of his penthouse. "Holy cats! Is this really Gaius's house!?" Ruby questioned with surprise.

"His house has a dojo too." Yu mentioned as they pass a room, large enough for the said dojo.

"How was anyone able to fit that in an apartment!?" Yosuke wondered with surprise.

"I figured he and the Black Fang providing their service to this Kingdom would make him famous in someway, but damn..." Ryuji mentioned.

Team RWBY browsed his living room together. "I was not expecting his home so... refine..." Weiss commented.

"A leader of the Black Fang is an important role in this kingdom. To think he is now living a life of luxury..." Blake muttered.

As the students looked around his apartment, a Nurse appeared out of a room. "Oh, are you all guests?" The Nurse asked.

"Ohh.. who's this lovely angel?" Teddie asked as Chie held him back comically.

"They're my friends." Yu addressed. "We came to check up on Gaius-sensei."

"Narukami? You... have friends?" The nurse mentioned with surprise, but shrugged off the idea. "Oh, um... yes. He is in his room. If you want to see him, you'll have to be very quiet." She answered as Yu and the others nodded as the Nurse guided them.

"Moment of truth guys..." Morgana meowed.

Now entering Gaius's room, they see him sleeping in his bed on the floor. Gauis Erston sleeping in a death-like slumber with medical equipment connected on him. Akira and Morgana even notice a trash can nearby with some cloths with black stains on them.

"Sensei..." Yu knelled down as did Ren, Blake, and the other students as well. "How did this happened...?" He asked the Nurse.

"Not much details were clear when I heard... this all happened immediately, just as he was minding his own business the next thing happened is that he started to collapse as black liquid started to ooze out from his eyes..."

"Did he say anything else? Any last words before he went under?" Yu questioned.

"I'm sorry, I cannot explain the details. You know more than I do that he doesn't share his line of work to just anyone." The Nurse answered as Yu sighed with a stern expression.

"I see..." The Team Leader said as he stood back up. "He's not in any immediate danger, is he?"

"I hope not. But, no, nothing life endangering. I this is due to the stress of work, I would consider long periods of rest."

"True." Yu looked back to the man he respects as he and his friends stood back up to leave. "Thank you for looking after him."

"No problem. It's the least I can do for the man that help prevent a crisis, your parents too." The Nurse reassured with a chuckle. "And I have no doubt that they're proud to know that you've been making friends."

As they were about to leave the room, Ruby and Akira notice a one and only portrait in the center of the wall in his room.

* * *

Once they left the building they all huddled in for their next step of a plan. "Whelp, we saw his Penthouse. And to think he supposed to be some derange bad guy." Weiss assumed.

"Now that's putting it mildly. So we now know where his house is, what next?" Jaune asked.

"The next step is getting the calling card out." Morgana explained. "I can post them around the hotel with no one looking."

"We can also post them around the Black Fang HQ, just not nowhere near their HQ and all." Yusuke suggested.

"Yeah, leave the calling card to us. Just meet us at the usual spot." Ryuji telling the Huntsmen.

"We'll find out what's going on with Gaius's heart, that's for sure." Ann declared.

"Alright. We'll see you guys tomorrow." Ruby reassured and then realized. "Oh! We could probably prepare for the heist, if that's okay?"

"True. We could use anything for what will happened tomorrow. We may need medical supplies..." Blake mentioned.

"Way ahead of ya'." Akira answered as he took out a opened box of band-aid, which confused of how he got that out of nowhere.

"Dude, you still have the same box from out first heist?" Ryuji questioned with a pained expression.

"Yeah, there should be enough for one each." Akria replied.

"That's... reassuring." Yang reluctantly agreed.

"And I still have several Huge Fishes if we need to recover our health." Yu mentioned as he took out the fishes out of nowhere as well.

"What the- Dude, wha- when did you had the time to fish!?" Yosuke questioned, much to everyone's surprise.

"Last year, why?" Yu replied plainly.

"What!? Then how where you able to... keep them fresh...?" Yosuke stared at the fish he has and it looks so fresh.

"We had freezers at the hotel... if we're counting the fridges back at Beacon Academy." Yu mentioned.

"You have got to be joking..." Makoto scoffed in disgust.

"Now that's/is a big fish..." Blake and Yukiko muttered, eyeing the fishes.

"Well it can't be worst that Ruby and her cookies..." Chie pointed to Ruby, only to reveal her eating all the cookies, wherever she got them. "Uhh... never mind..."

"Is our leaders always like this?" Weiss begged to wonder.

"Well... guess our leaders have things under control. Guess we'll call it quits for tonight." Kanji suggested.

"We could use a breather." Jaune agreed as they all went back to their hotel, as they prepared for tomorrow.

* * *

 **A/N: I am SO gonna stop it there. Over a month already, goodness. Work here is really pushing my legs all over.**

 **Well I now hinted Gaius and the Narukami's background, and the fact that he has it good with a "high life" or something, and the place where he lives, to my knowledge, and by fiction.  
**

 **I plan the fight to be similar to a certain fight in FFXIV, so expect some mechanics in play. I actually had plans to implement the fight in this chapter, but it'll take too long already.**

 **Oh, right! Ren's codename is Lotus. It would make sense, considering his symbol.**

 **I can't really think what else to say, so I leave it off with a pair of omake skits.**

* * *

Cousins of Chaos

Jaune and Kanji was wandering around town when they heard motorcycles coming through, Ren, Sun, Neptune, and Ryuji, riding through and passing around the two as they then parked their bikes nearby. "Cousins of Chaos, dismount!" Sun commanded as they did, jumping off their bikes in a cool pose and posture. They even have cool-looking berets

"Damn! Where did you guys get those bikes!?" Kanji questioned with amazement.

"This is so cool! How long have you guys been in a biker gang?" Jaune asked with sparkles in his eyes.

"About a week? Give or take a week..." Ren assumes.

"Yeah, can't really say." Ryuji nodded.

"Oh, can we join your cool gang? Please?" Jaune begged eagerly.

"Only bad boys can join the Cousins of Chaos. You gotta prove you're a rebel like us! Cousins, sound off!" Sun declared.

Ren went first. "I have a library book that is three weeks over due, and I have no immediate plans of returning it." He said.

"Yeah, I went through the 15 items or less check out, Guess what? Had twenty! Regret nothing." Neptune stated with pride.

"I stood my ground against an abusive Teacher back at Shujin Academy. Despite my leg injured by that asshole, I still sent him to prison." Ryuji stated with confidence.

"Last time I used the bathroom, I didn't wash my hands afterwards." Sun stated as everyone stepped back a little in disgust. "Alright guys, impress us!"

"Sure, um, so many rebellious things I've done, hard to choose just one..." Jaune cleared his throat as he thought of one. "I may or may not be wearing underwear."

"Dude, did you forget to wear one?" Kanji wondered.

"Ooh, a mystery." Ren assumes.

"Okay, Kanji what say you?" Ryuji asked.

"Oh, I definitely got one. I personally chased a biker gang out of my neighborhood myself... with only a bike!" Kanji declared.

"Damn!" The Cousins of Chaos exclaimed, even Jaune too.

"Okay, welcome to the Cousins of Chaos, guys! Put it there!" Sun greeted as offered a high-five, but Jaune and Kanji rescinded it, due to Sun mentioning his dirty hands. "Alright Cousins of Chaos, let's ride!"

"Yeah! Cousins Unite!" Kanji roared.

Wait, don't forget your skin cream! You know how that wind can dry out your face." Neptune suggested as he took out skin lotion."

"Oh, yeah, good point." Ryuji agrees.

"Right, Cousins of Chaos, moisturize!" Sun stated as they began to share the lotion.

"Thank you guys so much you guys!" Jaune thanked as he began to take a closer look at their motorbikes. "I promise you won't regret thi-" Soon a Jaune tapped one of the bikes, all the other bikes fell like a domino.

"OUR CHOPPERS!" Sun exclaimed in horrors.

"What the hell, man!?" Ryuji roared at Jaune.

"Oh, it's okay! It's just a scratch! I can fix it!" Jaune stuttered as he tried to lift Ren's bike until it exploded in his face, knocking Jaune out while their bikes went up in flames.

"NOOOO, those bikes were rentals, goddammit!" Ryuji cried by all the lien he spent on those rent-a-bikes.

"My library book in there, there too..." Ren simply mentioned.

"That's what you're worried about!?" Kanji questioned.

* * *

Dogs of Art

Sometime at Kosei High, the Huntsmen students were invite to make painting of pair of dogs, Zwei and Koromaru. Ruby, Ren, Yosuke, Blake, Fuuka, and Nora were painting in their own way as Weiss and Yusuke were serving as Judges.

First up, they start off with Nora Valkyrie, plastering her paint-printed hands on the picture frame. "Nora-chan?" Yusuke beckoned her attention as she showed her artwork, the pair of dogs in a poor design.

"That's... good..." Weiss choked her words in disgust.

"And yet her effort and ability to draw a dogs without a paint brush is impressive." Yusuke commented proudly as they jolt down their review.

Next up, Fuuka Yamagishi as she showed them only Koromaru, accurate design like the original if not without Zwei. "I'm sorry, I was only able to design Koro-chan. Drawing is a really difficult for me." Fuuka apologize.

"Yet you manage to draw Koromaru clearly. You showed good determination there." Yusuke commented.

"You won't get a good score, but you will a have a decent grade." Weiss agreed as they made made their review.

Next is Blake as they see a... "Oh... are those suppose to be cats?" Yusuke asks as they see cat versions of Zwei and Koromaru. "That's impressive." He commented.

"'A' for effort... But 'F' for following the rules." Weiss declared as they jolt down their review.

They walk towards Yosuke who was... drawing on his station as he shows them his artwork. "Hah ha!, not bad, don't you think?" Yosuke boasted as he showed them the pair of dogs each holding a knife in their mouth with a fierce gaze. "Didn't add the color yet, but you just imagine the dogs of war so deadly when they're defending their turf. Got this idea out of a manga, after all." He commented.

"That's... Marvelous." Yusuke stated with awe as he wrote his review.

"You made that...? Unbelievable..." Weiss stated in denial. She then notice a book on the side of his station "How to draw Manga" booklet. She had no choice but to write her honest review as Yusuke did.

They go to Ren to see his finished master piece, Zwei and Koromaru standing proudly, just like they're posing on the pedestal.

"That... is better than the last one." Yuske commented.

"Beautiful..." Weiss state as Ren formally bowed.

After they wrote their review they finally reached Ruby, who was still finishing her last touches. Hang on... almost done..." Ruby replied to the Judge's beckoning. "Aaaaaaannnndddd... Done!" She exclaimed, revealing to the Judges the dogs'... butt-hole. Upon their gazing of the painting Yusuke were admiring the picture while Weiss couldn't bear to see it, shutting her eyes and dropping her clipboard and then walking away. "What, you don't like it?" Ruby asked as Weiss walk away further with her trauma, annoying the painter. "Y-YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MY VISION!" She exclaimed as she turns to Yusuke and Ren onlooking over. "It's a butt." Ruby stated formally.

"And a majestic butt, indeed." Yusuke stated as Ren nodded in agreement.

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Beneath the Mask -Instrumental ver. - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Restlessness - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Keeper of Lust - Shoji Meguro**


	8. Gaius's Palace Part IV

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **Gaius's Palace: Memior of the Jade Sota**

Unconfirmed Date **Erston Residence** Daytime

Years back, in Gaius's apartment, the owner was tending to his business as he look towards a Young Yu Narukami reading a book on a couch nearby. He can see the dull and empty-feeling eyes as the child stares into the book.

 _"Although it is nice that he isn't bothering my work, he should at least should've shown some emotions..."_ Gaius thought as he observe the grey-haired boy with silver eyes. Young Yu flipped a page over and continued reading, minding his own business. Once Gaius managed to grab some free time, he approached the Young Yu. "Do you want to use the TV?" Gaius asked as Young Yu looked up to him

"What for?" Young Yu asked.

"I don't know. I assumed that had a favorite show to watch." Gaius explained. "Children nowadays usually have their eyes glued onto the screen."

"I don't think have a favorite show to watch, Sensei." Young Yu said with no feelings inputted.

"I see..." Gaius sighed.

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

Yu woke up from dozing off as Ruby kept tapping him on his shoulders. "Hey, heeeey! Yu awake?" Ruby asked.

"Oh! Yeah! I'm up." Yu assured as he realizes that they arrived at their stop.

* * *

8/03 **Black Fang HQ** Morning

The group of students arrived at their usual spot as they awaited their Phantom Thief allies. Yu was still reminiscing of his time with Gaius. "You okay, partner? You have that expression when you're in deep thought." Yosuke mentioned as they turned to Yu.

"I have that expression?" Yu recalls. "I guess I'm still concerned about Gaius-sensei."

"You said he was your... baby-sitter? You also call him Sensei? Was he your teacher?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, he taught me some basic sword swinging skill during most of his free time, but that's just it. Other than that, he was already busy running the guild." Yu explained. "He said that my Father was supposed to teach me about combat and how to communicate with others, but even my parents were to busy."

"Your parents were busy doing Huntsmen stuff overseas, yeah? You put it like that, then wouldn't you have it worst than Nanako-chan with her dad." Kanji voiced his thought.

"And so Gaius was your second father in a way?" Ren assumes.

"Yeah, that's right. Their job is important to them and I can understand that they won't be able to be around for me. That's why I never bothered them. Thinking back though, I should've interacted with them a little more..." Yu said with a frown.

"Well hey, being Huntsmen is a serious job they have, even I think it's a cool job." Ruby reassured as her older sister played around with her, locking her in a hold and rubbing her her head.

"Yeah, and it's not wrong to feel aspired to do for another." Chie agrees.

"I sure that they wanted what is best for you. Surely there was one thing that they considered to help you." Yukiko assured.

"Maybe... then again I do recall something that Sensei and my parents mentioning me at one time..." Yu mentioned as he recalls something. "Wait... could it be...!?"

"Whoa, was it Sensei?" Teddie asks.

"Gaius said something about me seeing the world for myself... I think that's what why they sent me to Inaba in the first place...!" Yu exclaimed.

"He sent you to Inaba?" Yosuke repeated and then realized. "Holy crap, and that idea was his suggestion!?"

"Ooh! So if he didn't send you to our home town, we might've been doomed if we didn't stopped murder case!" Chie realized.

"And Gaius-sensei was not even aware of the situation?" Yukiko added.

"I didn't think so. At first I was assuming it was because he was also busy..." Yu muttered.

As they continued to wait, Blake poked her sights around the corner to notice people acting up from a certain commotion.

"Hey, isn't this...!"

"A calling card? Here?"

"Why the boss!?"

The members of the Black Fang in front of the HQ were piling numbers of red cards. A gust blew a card away and Blake caught one and brought it back to the group. "Hey everyone, is this one of those calling cards they made?" Blake gaining her friends attention as they read the calling card. It was pasted with letters of random fonts.

Gaius Erston, High Leader of the of the Black Fang, whose has neglected his sworn duties.

Your inaction has left your soldiers in disarray and will cost the lives of your men and women that serve under you.  
You leave us no choice but to give you a wake-up call to serve your kingdom, knowing full well that Japan has put their faith in your company.  
Should you leave your people to die by the hands of the Grimm, their blood will be on your hands.  
You have about a day before we take your heart in order to protect the Kingdom.  
Brace yourself, for we will falter in taking your distorted heart.

\- From the Phantom Thieves

* * *

8/03 **Erston Residence** Daytime

At the same time, it was the same where some members outside Gaius's residence that the Black Fang members were taking down the calling cards. The Nurse inside Erston's room has repeated what the calling card said, despite Gaius still in a comatose state.

 _"Even if our boss is unconscious, he must be aware of what I told him. I still can't believe why those Phantom Thieves would go after him..."_ The Nurse pondered as she left his room.

Just as she left the room suddenly distorts and the atmosphere change as his Shadow appeared sitting on his knees.

 **"So... It's time..."** Shadow Gaius muttered as his eye gleamed. **"Very well then! The die is cast, preparations are done. It is time to meet our fate!"** He declared the atmosphere change back with the original Gaius still in his comatose state.

* * *

 ***Life Will Change (Instrumental ver.)**

The Phantom Thieves group rendezvous with the group. "Hey guys!" Ryuji wave to them.

"All that commotion, that was you dong, right?" Ruby asked.

"We made sure Gaius heard the calling card. Something this important like an attack on their boss would obviously get his attention. Even if he's unconscious." Morgana answered.

"That might've been overzealous for my tastes." Blake sighed.

"Meh, as long as it works." Ryuji said with out a doubt.

"Alright let's do this!" Yu declared as everyone entered the metaverse.

(BGM cut)

* * *

Unconfirmed Date **Narukami Residence** Daytime

It was about at least 2 years ago when Gaius brought up a suggestion for Souji and Seta's son. Although, they were reluctant otherwise, especially Souji, who was clenching his fists and teeth. "You can't expect my son to learn to fight Grimm! I... can't just allow that!" He exclaimed in denial.

"Yu Narukami is your child, both his parents who're Huntsmen. If he can at least learn some self-defense, he can go so far than staying isolated in this city." Gaius stated. "Souji, whenever I see your son, I always see a boy with an empty-slated mind. He needs to open and expand his mind somehow or he won't be able to think for himself. Just think about it, will he be able to fend for himself if we're not around?" Souji had a terrified expression on his face, even Seta was scared for her son's safety. "Souji, I know that feeling of losing someone precious to you, but you have to let the bird fly on it's own."

"Agh! I know that!" Souji retorted angrily as his anger died down to a sad expression. "... I know..."

They fell into silence until Seta came up with an idea. "Oh, we could always send Yu-kun to my brother Ryo-kun!" She suggested.

"Ryotaro? Oh yeah, Inaba is inside the Kingdom's country side..." Souji agreed.

"... You two would go through so many lengths just to keep him in Japan, aren't you?" Gaius groaned with a sweat-drop. "I suppose that's still a change of pace, i guess..." He reluctantly agreed.

"I'll go make the call!" Seta rushed out of the room as she left to find a phone.

"I... guess it'll also make a good change of pace for Ryo too..." Souji mentioned.

* * *

8/03 **Distorted Black Fang Headquarters** Daytime

 ***Life Will Change (Instrumental ver.)**

Once they neared Gaius's Palace they soon realize that security beefed up a lot more the last time they arrived. "Whoa, that's a lotta baddies in the way!" Nora mentioned, peeking out behind the gate.

"We've just sent a calling card out. It's no surprised that Shadow Gaius reinforced his Palace." Mona stated a he too, peeked out from behind the gate. "Still with this many, it'll probably gonna be difficult to reach the treasure with this many of us." He also mentioned.

"Then what should we do? Do we send a distraction group while the rest of us infiltrate towards the treasure?" Rouge suggested.

"I think that's the best option, considering we're a huge group." Mona agreed. "If we can lure as many Shadows elsewhere, the infiltration team can grab the treasure while everyone is distracted elsewhere."

The group look towards each other, as Bones stepped in. "I ain't exactly a sneaky thug, I'll bring them all down while you guys nab the treasure. Kuma you're with me!" Bones volunteered.

"Wha... but I wanted to go with Sensei!" Kuma whined.

"Geez, we'll just have to split the entire group up, don't we? I could pitch in with Bones and Kuma." Blaze volunteered.

"Okay, before we can even steal the treasure, haven't we planned this thoroughly?" Blanc asked as they all sweat-dropped.

Eventually the had the plan sorted out. The Phantom Theives along with Rouge, Raiden, Kaze, Rook, Saber, and Lotus will be the infiltrators, while the rest of the group will act as decoys.

"So do we now have the the plan out now?" Saber asked.

"Okay, then let's commence the infiltration!" Raidein declared.

"Sis, you take care of yourself, 'kay?" Told Blaze.

"You too, Blaze!" Rouge confirmed as the decoy group charged in.

"Alright, Let's head toward the treasure room!" Mona declared as they proceeded with their infiltration.

They pass many contingents of guards that marched towards the front gate to where the decoy units are, who are making a lot of noise. "Well shit, for Huntsmen, you guys seem to be good at this." Skull commented as one of the Shadows was launched into the door as it broke down.

"That's what were taught at Beacon. Learning to smash Grimm everywhere." Kaze noted as they continued.

They finally made it to the entrance as an explosion occurred wherever the decoy unit were at. "Good, our teammates are holding the shadows at bay." Mona stated

"Let's take care of the treasure and leave before they get overwhelmed." Saber suggested.

"I think being overwhelmed is an understatement." Lotus sighed as they pass the entrance towards the treasure.

* * *

They entered the area that suppose to have the treasure, but the only person they see is Shadow Gaius waiting for them. **"You expect to grab my treasure while your friends distract my men elsewhere? Bold... and you clearly predicted this outcome."** Shadow Gaius stated as he stood up as they confronted him.

"Figures the Lord of the Castle would hang around the treasure. Once you hear you calling card, you'd know your treasure is gonna be taken, huh?" Skull stated.

 **"Astute, even for you."** Gaius stated as he then gave the thieves his glare. **"Still, if you want to take my treasure, you assassins will have to kill me before you can try."** He declared drawing his Katana.

"But we're not here to kill you! We're trying to help figure out this predicament!" Rouge exclaimed. "Mr. Erston, why do you still think that we're assassins anyways?"

 **"Questions, hmm?"** Shadow Gaius mutters and answers. **"Tell me, are you aware of the recent mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns? I hear they have become a real trend these past months."**

"Mental shutdowns and Psychotic breakdowns...? There was an incident where a guy lost it, during the runaway train incident not so long ago..." Rook mentioned as they recall the runaway train at that time.

 **"Indeed. You lot seem to have the ability to change one's heart, going into our palaces and all. It's obvious that you are all suspicious, even under the guise of thieves."** Shadow Gaius explained.

"But we didn't kill our previous targets! We only made sure to just take their treasure!" Mona explained.

 **"I'm sure that there are two sides of the story, but here we are."** Shadow Gaius stated followed by a moment of silence. **"Before we begin, I suppose it's fitting that all you gaze upon your prize."** He suggested as he had a ninja-looking shadow appear besides him as the Shadow showed the Phantom Thieves the treasure.

"! That's...!" Raiden stuttered as he, Joker, and Rouge also knew what the treasure looks like. It was a portrait revealing to be a picture of four familiar individuals with their weapons out. Souji on the far left with his hand on his sword planted in the ground, also showing a fist-pump, Gaius with a grip on his Katana that is also planted in the ground, Nei Yuuki holding her staff with its head looking mechanical, and Seta on the far right to reveal a uniquely-designed Longbow with small metal rods besides her.

"So that's the treasure? It's the same portrait in your room; That's a picture of your team of Huntsmen graduates..." Rouge explained.

"It seems that treasures comes in different values that depends on the host." Fox said while scanning the portrait itself.

"That's a portrait of your team, Team SEYD?" Saber asked.

Shadow Gaius nodded as he gaze upon the portrait. **"Indeed. Back when I was a student of Beacon, I've always saw everything in a negative light. There was was so many humans outside of Japan that despise Faunus. But Soul Rose or... Souji Narukami, he never saw me as animal, but a person, a friend. Had that damn fool not been in my life, I might of fell to despair and went on a bloody rampage like what the White Fang has been doing for sometime. A damn, idiot who always considerate and open-minded towards everyone. Even as my leader of the team, most of his stupidest plans and ideas worked mostly every time. I cannot deny the jealousy and envy I had towards him. And when he lost his sister and Yuuki, that bastard needed a pick-me-up."**

"And that's how you became the leader of the Guild, to lead by his example?" Raiden guessed. "That you'd be a leader of misfits one of these days?"

 **"I saw why the Headmaster chose him as the leader over me."** Shadow Gaius sighed as he turned the the group. **"I will not minced words any further, should you take my treasure, I will lose everything that I stand for, my will to lead, my identity. I know that won't stop you."**

"So what now? We gonna fight?" Skull questioned.

 **"Precisely. But I am not going to fight alone. Byakko-sama, are you ready?"** Shadow Gaius called out.

Question marks popped above the Phantom Thieves as a white-colored tiger appeared passing through the group to their surprise. "Whoa! Where did this Tiger come from!?" Bones staggered.

"That presences... now that's hard to believe...!" Mona stuttered as he gaze upon the Tiger.

"That's the same tiger we saw, is he suppose to be something important...?" Rook asked.

"He's... Byakko, lord of the western province of Japan...!" Queen stated with realization as the Tiger stood at Shadow Gaius's side.

 **"Good to hear you lot are doing your homework."** Byakko stated telepathically. **"Gaius, give the boy your Katana, he's going to need it if he doesn't want to die."** He requested.

 **"Of course."** Shadow Gaius agreed as he tossed his weapon before Raiden. **"I won't need it to deal with you lot with what I'm about to do."**

"I bet that's just your ego bluffing. We'll take you on!" Skull declared as Raiden picked up the Katana.

 **"We shall see. It's time, Byakko-sama!"** Shadow Gaius declared as he raised his hand.

* * *

 ***Blooming** **Villain**

 **"It begins. Receive of us our fury, children of mortals and quell it!"** Byakko roared as he leaped into the air and floated until the tiger erupted into a black and red flame that poured onto Shadow Gaius, consuming him as the flame grew big and dispersed, revealing a new form before the Phantom Thieves; a white-skinned and humanoid with a tiger as its right arm with the same colored mane. **"There is no turning back!"** He roared, unleashing a **Magarudyne**. staggering most of those weak to wind.

"What the... hell...!?" Skull stuttered before Shadow Gaius's fearsome form.

"That... is that Shadow Gaius's true form!?" Rouge questioned, drawing Crescent Rose.

"I think... but... I sense another force overpowering the Shadow's presence...!" Morgana stated, stepping back.

"What do you mean 'overpowering'? And... why are you backing away!?" Rook asked in a panicked tone.

Shadow Gaius gently pressed his feet on the surface of the floor they're standing on and cause the ground to quake. "He's not going to pull his punches! Be on your guard!" Raiden stated as he summons Izanagi Picaro, blasting a **Ziodyne** upon the Shadow.

Shadow Gaius then turn to Rook as he shot an energy orb, **Heavenly Strike** , onto the Persona User as everyone evaded the attack as Rook ate the attack staggering him down.

"Rook!" Lotus exclaimed as Shadow Gaius lunge towards Rook and grabbed him with his tiger arm.

Rook yelped as he was raised into the air as Shadow Gaius was set on slamming him down. **"Steel yourself, my stakes are at my highest!"** Shadow Gaius declared readying on slamming Rook into the ground.

"...! Skull, Fox, we have to catch him!" Joker exclaimed as the three rushed into position as Byakko immediate plunged his tiger arm into the ground. The slam would've crush Rook's bones if not for Joker, Skull, and Fox, along with their Personas to soften the strike.

"Oof!" Rook slammed onto the pavement but bounced off as he rolled back roughly followed by groaning in pain.

"That almost hurt! You alright, Rook?" Panther asked as she had Carmen use **Diarama** on him.

"I'm okay...! Ow..." Rook groaned as he stood back up

Shadow Gaius unleashed another Storm Pulse with everyone defending from the area-wide attack with Morgana immediately using **Mediarama** on the group, healing through the attack.

Fox and Lotus summoned their Persona as they retaliated with swing their weapons at the Shadow. Despite his size, Shadow Gaius fluently evades their swings, eventually catching their blades by his hands and immediately counters back with thrusting his leg into Goemon's gut and heavily knocking Ravana with a sweep of his leg on its head as it shatters there Personas away.

"Ngh... and with a big body like that!?" Fox winced as got back up.

"He is truly formidable as he says...!" Lotus staggers, who also recovers and fires upon Shadow Gaius as he hails **Magarudyne** upon the Phantom Thieves back as they evade the impending hail. Afterwards, he roared as a red smokey flare erupted and swirled around the arena, which made the combatants get inflicted with an unknown affliction, dark red steam with red static.

"The hell!? What is this!?" Skull staggered.

They soon notice Shadow Gaius summoning red orbs as it rain down upon the group. "This is bad, Move!" Mona exclaimed. They did as they were told and dodge the incoming orbs, but when Skull tried to knock an incoming orb away it explode on him and dealt severe damage on him. "Skull!"

"Ooohhh... sonuva..." Skull stuttered.

"Oh no, Skull's down!" Mona yelled.

"I got him!" Queen stated as she rode Johanna and grabbed Skull away to a safe distance.

Raiden tried to use a Persona to nullify this affliction, but wasn't working. "This affliction, what ever it is, it's making us susceptible towards these orbs!" Raiden exclaimed as he kept up dodging the orbs.

"This Shadow has a lot of tricks up his sleeves!" Rouge commented as she was dodging as well as she had Soma use **Eigaon** in front of the Shadow as a smokescreen for her quick sneak attack. Although, Shadow Gaius instantly vanished, like in mach-speed, just before her swing connected, as he then appeared at the southern end of the arena, sticking his tiger arm out as he began to charge up an attack.

"Crap, to the sides everyone!" Mona ordered, with him and everyone managed to move to their points as Shadow Gaius fired a very deadly-looking beam; **Fire and Lightning**.

 **"Twofold is my wrath, Twice-cursed my foes!"** Shadow Gaius roared as his tiger arm erupted into a purple flame as the said flame melted of his arm and began to move towards the center of the arena as it took form of a Deity Tiger.

"Augh! Just what we needed!" Mona yelled in frustrations as Byakko vanished again.

"Did he taken form of the Tiger? Wait, what's it doing?" Saber questioned.

"I don't know, but it looks like it's charging up an attack!" Mona stated in observation.

The atmosphere began to change into a more darker violet scenery as the Tiger began to emit red static on its body. "Brace yourselves!" Raiden exclaimed as the Tiger roared loudly with the red steam and the red static erupted paralyzing the group.

 **"All creation trembles before my might! Behold, fury given form!"** Shadow Gaius declared as he raised his normal hand in the air as the group glares up to him with a storm brewing as they notice a spiraling orb in his raised hand. He soon drops down on the center of the arena, blasting them off their feet and flung into the sky whereas they no longer can see the ground below them.

 ***Todoroki**

* * *

At the same time, the Tiger roared loudly, enough, for the Decoy unit to here as the loud roar shook the ground they stand. "What is going on!?" Blanc questioned as she balanced herself after the quake.

"Ruby..." Blaze muttered in concerns as a strong whirlwind appeared as it began to suck up the portion of the castle and started to grow larger.

"Now some tornado!? What exactly are they doing!?" Chan questioned.

With the hurricane began to sweep the enemy shadows away, it'll be a matter of time before the group gets sucked in. "Shit... we're get sucked into the damn tornado if we don't- Oh shit!" Bones staggers as they watch Kuma being instantly pulled into the air.

Some screamed for Kuma while others were deliberating on what to do now. "Well, we can't go anywhere without our teammates, might as we head right in!" Blaze suggested as she shoots her way into the flow of the hurricane.

"Blaze- Ugh... seriously!?" Chan groaned as she held on to a heavy debris along with Sakura.

"I think we should follow her. The Phantom Thieves are still engaging the palace ruler, yes?" Freya suggested.

Despite the reluctance, they unanimously agree and join the flow of the hurricane as they search for their teammates... who happened to be very high into the sky.

* * *

As the Phantom Thieves were pulled into the sky, they then started to feel the gravity kicking in at they began to free fall. "Shit, shit, oh shit we're falling!" Skull exclaimed in a panicked tone.

"Keep it together! We could probably use our Personas for cushion!" Rouge suggested.

"That's gonna be the least of our worries, look!" Saber point downwards as they see Shadow Gaius below them.

 **"My wrath is a ceaseless torrent!"** Shadow Gaius exclaimed as he readies his attack. He fires orbs at the falling Phantom Thieves as they were unable to act.

One was about to make contact with Skull again, but Joker pushed him aside and took the blast, causing less damage than it should. "I guess Raiden was right about that smoke making us susceptible." He commented.

"We'll have to keep maneuvering around unless we can't attack, he has the sky in his control!" Kaze mentioned as a Tiger appeared to be charging right at him. Kaze spun away allowing the Tiger to miss the attack.

Then Shadow Gaius appeared in the s center of the group as he wound for a spin attack, they all dodge according if not without Rook deflecting the kick with his shield, causing him to spin away, eventually regaining his composer after the attack.

Shadow Gaius dive below to casts orbs on the Phantom Thieves again, with them evading the attacks once again. The Orbs Shadow Gaius fired scattered all over in hopes to damage the Persona Users, he then sent his Tiger to strike once more, charging towards Panther and Mona as they maneuvered out of the way.

"How high are we? Surely... we... must have seen the ground soon!" Fox questioned as he and the others kept dodging the attacks.

"He literally sent so high, I can't tell!" Mona exclaimed back.

 **"No more games!"** Byakko declared as then blasted through the group followed by a shock that stunned the entire group.

"Gyaaah!" Mona yelled as he was tasered. "N-Not g-good!"

Soon enough, they eventually fell out of the clouds only to reveal the sight of pillar-like formations and the the fact that they're landing real fast onto the ground below them.

Some of them screamed as others reacted quickly enough to summon their Personas to cushion their fall. Rouge and Rook were left as they realize that they forgot to use their Personas. Nearing the impact, Blaze suddenly appeared as she caught in mid-fall. "Jeez, what the heck happened to you guys, I mean falling right out of the sky!?" She questioned as the rest of the decoy unit appeared as well.

"S-Sis!? Wait, how did you guys get here?" Rouge asked.

"What ever you guys did, that cyclone swallowed the entire castle and we've been jumping onto debris just to catch that buffoon, Kuma that was caught in the... Now where did he go?" Blanc questioned.

"I think Rook can answer that question..." Queen point to him as they all see him on top of the flattened Kuma, Rook was staggering on his back due to the trauma of falling and from the possible chance of dying.

"Rook!" Freya exclaimed as she rushed to his aid.

"Okay, now that that's been settle we still need to find Shadow Gaius... actually never mind. It seems he came to us..." Joker stated as they all see him floating down before them.

He raise his right arm as the tiger pushed Kaze onto the ground, by surprise as it hopped off and returned to Shadow Gaius, merge back to his right arm again. **"To ashes with you all!"** Shadow Gaius roared as he charges up an attack.

"Ack! Heads up!" Rouge exclaimed as Blanc immediately cast **Mabufula** in between them and the attacking Shadow Gaius in their defense.

Soon enough, the charged blast Shadow Gaius stored, fired upon the group, breaking down the iced wall and then started to push some students out of the arena with a roaring ferocity.

As the beam died down, the group still standing scanned their surrounding to realize some of their friends are down for the count, especially the members of the Phantom Thieves excluding Joker, were out in a terrible state. "What... power...!" Mona groaned.

"Guys? Everyone!?" Joker gasped in a serious tone.

"Shit... I don't feel so good." Skull groaned.

"I don't think we're in serious condition, but we're too wounded to act...!" Queen assumes as she looks over her juniors.

"It is a miracle... that we even survive the attack..." Fox complimented.

 **"Impressive. Very well, I shall bring all to bear!"** Shadow Gaius roared at the ready.

 ***Amatsu Kaze**

"! Rouge, Joker, we have to regroup, quickly!" Raiden suggested as he felt the dangerous aura emanating from their enemy. "Team JNPR and Team KRST look after the Phantom Thieves. Joker, can you still fight?"

"He took out my teammates, sparing them from death at least. At least give me a crack at him." Joker stated as he glare at Shadow Gaius. Joker along with the Team NYCA and Team RWBY charges forward while Bones, Kuma, and Team JNPR heads the other to aid the Phantom Thief allies.

Although they did regroup, some could not help but not ignore the song playing. "Where is that song coming from?" Rouge wondered, reloading Crescent Rose.

"It can't be the Shadow itself singing it, could it?" Saber denied.

"Wherever it's coming from, it really does set the beat!" Blaze stated as she fires firebolts followed by summoning her Persona, Shadow Gaius raised his left arm to block the firebolts and immediately caught Ifreeta's punch with his tiger arm and used his left and to punch Ifreeta into its gut and staggered Blaze, clenching her own gut as Shadow Gaius tossed her Persona away prepared to stomp on her.

But just as he slams his feet on her, Cait Sith swiped Blaze out before the impact as Saber's Persona retracted back to its User with Blaze in toll. That Shadow has the capabilities of and actual fighter, even to his size." Saber observed.

"He also can use electric and wind skills. This is gonna suck, we still don't have his weakness..." Kaze grunted as he summons Jiraya, both him and his Persona tossing kunais and shurikens at Shadow Gaius, brushing them off like swatting flies.

 **"Lightning, sear!"** Shadow Gaius casts **Wild Thunder** lightning bolts everywhere as their impact were powerful enough to chip the ground.

Raiden and Joker casts **Elec Wall** in response shielding Rouge and Kaze from substantial damage from the lightning, along with changing their Personas accordingly to the enemy's attacks. Not many of them got stuck by lightning but was nothing too serious as Sakura keep the recovery up with **Mediarama**.

 **"Tempest, surge!"** The Shadow casts separate **Vacuum Wave** s among the group as Blaze, Raiden, Blanc, and Chan were hit, with Kaze and Joker pushed aside from the area of effect. Shadow Gaius continued to bring down lightning while the Persona Users scramble all over.

"Saber, Ladybug!" Rouge stated as she and Saber casts **Sukukaja** on themselves and rushed towards the Shadow with quick succession and flurry of slashes all over the giant Shadow. After inflicting decent damage they back away while Shadow Gaius casts another Wild Thunder, Rouge summons another Persona; Lachesis, casting another Elec Wall on herself, preventing more electric damage on her teammates.

Joker switches his Persona to Jatayu and tosses a **Flash Bomb** at Shadow Gaius as covers his eyes from the bright flash. The Persona User follows up with firing bullets at him dealing damage on impact.

Shadow Gaius pulls back and catches Chan with his tiger arm, preparing to smash her into the ground. "Chan!" Sakura exclaimed.

"We got her!" Kaze stated as he, Blaze, and Raiden quickly summon their Persona before the Shadow plants Chan into the ground, releasing Chan before the impact by catching the Shadow by the Tiger arm. "You good, Chan?" He asked.

"Ngh... Huh? Whoa, get down!" Chan exclaimed as she pulls them to the ground. The realized that Shadow Gaius unleashed a round-house kick, **Sweep the Leg** , that covered the entire front of him. While some manage to evade the attack, Chan, Kaze, and Blaze barely evaded the strike by ducking down enough for the strike to pass them from above.

Shadow Gaius unleashes another **Vacuum Wave** as he then pulled back as he charges up another **Fire and Lightning** beam.

 **"Roar! Writhe! Rage! Feel my Unrelenting Anguish!"** Shadow Gaius roared as he casts another red smokey flare erupted and swirled around the arena which cause the Persona Users to become susceptible towards the orbs that Raiden just explained to the group fighting him now. They dodge the orbs so they won't deal too much damage, despite the Shadow casting off several spells at once, multiple **Magarudyne** s, **Fire and Lightning** , and the continuous orbs appearing.

"This... is getting out of hand...!" Sakura exclaimed tiredly with heavy breathing as she exhaust her **Mediarahan** on the group.

"I think we're getting to him. He has to have his limits!" Raiden exclaimed as he took a closer look at Shadow Gaius, it feels like his energy is waning.

 **"Hmph! Very observant of you, but how long will you survive my rage!?"** Shadow Gaius questioned as he lunges towards Raiden.

"I won't have to!" Raiden retorted as dodges the lunge of the Shadow's arm and climb up on it as the arm pulls upwards, allowing Raiden to jump high in the air as he raised the Katana, that he's borrowing from Shadow Gaius, causing a stray lightning bolt to connect onto the blade. Raiden then made the drop on the Shadow with the lightning-charged Katana, slicing the Tiger arm apart, followed by a shock enough to down him.

"Nice partner!" Kaze cheered as he, Joker, Rouge, and Blaze pointed their ranged weapons at Shadow Gaius.

 **"To think a group of children would best us like this..."** Shadow Gaius chuckled as he looks to his tiger arm dissipating and his original arm returning to its normal shape. He then glares at the group with eagerness. **"Come, disciples of Combat. Show me more of what you can do!"** He roared.

"With pleasure!" Blaze agree as she initiate and All-out Attack, as the comical cloud form, the four did a decent amount of damage towards the Shadow. As they backed away after the assault, Shadow Gaius regained his stance once more, without his Tiger arm this time.

"He lost his arm! He won't be able to unleash his powerful attacks anymore!" Mona explained.

 **"Do not think that this will be your opportunity, I still stand!"** Shadow Gaius roared. **"I confess, you are all stronger than I dared to hope. But that won't change if you falter!"** He included as he clap his hands loudly. Suddenly the ground surrounding the Shadow started to erupt with static, only for Joker and Raiden to realize that a strong attack was about to occur. They managed to push Rouge away before... **"Lightning, sear!** **!"** Shadow Gaius roared as the **Concentrate** d **Wild Thunder** surges through out the area around him, shocking everyone with the area of effect with Rouge outside of it.

"G-Guys!" Rouge stuttered as the Shadow stands before her and the paralyzed Raiden and Joker.

 **"I can tell that you three have that 'potential' within you, I respect that. But this is the end for you!"** Shadow Gaius declared as he grips both Raiden and Joker in his hands, crushing them as they both yelled in pain.

"No, no, no, no, guys!" Rouge stood back and helplessly tries to think of something. Um... uh... Oh! Kukuri-Hime!" She summons the Persona and uses **Mediarama** on Raiden and Joker as the Shadow's crushing grips continued to hurt them. "They can't use their Personas right now but... you clearly have you hands full!" She said as she notice Blaze and running up from behind the Shadow with Blanc summoned to her side.

"Well said, sis!" Blaze roared as she **Power Charge** d herself with Blanc commanding Shiva to fire raining **Mabufula** at the target to cover Ifreeta tosses Blaze right at the shadow.

Shadow Gaius turned around to see the incoming attack, knocking away the ice attack only to reveal another attack coming towards him, Blaze punched him in his face, strong enough to stagger him away as well as loosening his grip on the leaders, allowing them to escape his hold. He felt to his knees, only when he regain his focus, he notices Rouge pointing her Crescent Rose point-blank at the Shadow's forehead.

"No hard feelings." Rouge said as she pulled the trigger. *BANG*

 **"Guuuaahh! *Cough* Well... played...!"** Shadow Gaius growled as he start to emit a white aura as he staggered. With last roar, the Shadow dissipate in a bright glow as a pair of orbs fell gently to the ground and retook its form of Shadow Gaius and Byakko in a terrible state, the samurai on one knee and the tiger off its feet as the song faded.

 **"Such serenity, such peace..."** Byakko groaned.

"You... You did it...!" Joker stuttered as he stood back up.

The duel has ended.

* * *

Afterwards, everyone regrouped in the arena as they were all exhausted. "Sensei, Young Sensei, are you guys okay!?" Kuma asked with concern.

"We're fine. Still this fight may have been our worse one yet..." Rouge stated with exhaustion.

"It's no surprise. With a Deity Lord and the Shadow combined, they literally hit hard..." Mona agreed in pain.

 ***Regret**

They stood before Shadow Gaius, defeated on one of his knee. **"*Cough* *cough*... You did well, you and your comrades, Narukami. It seems you're no longer some empty and emotionless doll, like you've been when you were younger..."** The Shadow cough the compliment.

"I think that's about enough, Gaius-sensei." Raiden declared.

 **"True... You have the right to judge my life."** Shadow Gaius sighed in defeat. **"Go on, take everything, my treasure, my life-"**

"We still don't know why you of all people have a distorted heart." Raiden interrupted. "If anything, why do you still think that the Phantom Thieves are the assassins you keep mentioning?"

"Yeah man. All we do is just take the treasure, we ain't no murderers!" Skull exclaimed.

 **"Then how do you explain the time I was almost killed before you lot appeared? Are you assuming the person with the Black mask was not part of your company?"** Shadow Gaius questioned as he struggles to stand up.

"A black mask? It's that intruder again!" Panther exclaimed.

"A guy with a black mask? Wait, there's another person who can go inside the palace?" Rouge asked.

"It's the same person that eluded us during a couple of our heists." Mona answered. "So that intruder came here too..."

"Gaius-sensei, did that other intruder say anything when he got here?" Raiden asked.

 **"Hmm... no, not a word. He just showed up and started shooting his gun without any hesitation. I figured that the mental shutdowns had something to do with our palaces, and it seems I my hunch was right."** Shadow Gaius assumed, with everyone surprised.

"Huh? Wait, You knew this was gonna happened!?" Rook realized what he meant.

 **"My real self assumed that he was a possible target, considering our status and standing. I spoke out once about you thieves, that you're to be dealt with by the police, than wasting the Black Fang's resources to hunt you down. And thus, this happened."** Shadow Gaius explained.

"But that still doesn't explain how someone so honorable like you would have a distorted desire. You would have some sort of twisted view of something in reality.

 **"While it's true that I might have such a ill-perception of the world, you can thank Souji for changing my mind."** Shadow Gaius stated as he limped back as he revealed his treasure. **"But if your asking how my heart has changed, you can thank Byakko-sama.** " He pointed to the Tiger.

 **"Hmm... You children are indeed worthwhile huntsmen. Not unlike those of Gaius and his acquaintance, in many respects..."** Byakko stated telepathically as he approached Rouge. **"And you lass... So you also have the eyes..."** He mentioned as he took a closer look.

"Um... that's right?" Rouge answered confusedly. "So... if you really are the 'Lord Byakko', then... Oh, crap, that's right! Your temple! We heard that it was ransacked and that you were missing!" She reminded.

 **"... Yes, I heard."** Byakko solemnly nodded as he turned to the Shadow. **"Clearly you are not going to remember this, but we still have our duties we need to return to. We can have a proper conversation later."**

 **"Of course. I thank you for your assistance, Byakko-sama."** Shadow Gaius bowed as the Tiger deity left the palace, by disappearing in a flash. **"He is the reason on how I managed to distort my heart enough to form a palace. By temporarily twisting my heart enough to project this palace in order to lure the assassin. Although, the assailant managed to wound me enough to cause my other self to fall into a comatose."**

"So this whole palace was fabricated to lure the supposed assassin, then?" Sakura questioned.

 **"I know you Phantom Thieves mean well and what you all are doing is noble. But donning the mantle 'thieves' does leave a poor impression. I cannot truly side with your cause, unfortunately."** Shadow Gaius stated.

"I understand, thank you for you blessing." Joker thanked.

 **"Do not thank me, My guild is only to protect this Kingdom from deadly threats of any means. Should the situation worsen, I will have no choice but to hunt you. We cannot condone murder."** The Shadow stated.

"We can assure you we only aim to punish rotten adults who make people suffer. Killing them is not in our profession." Mona reassured as Shadow Gaius nodded.

"Now that this is fine, what are we gonna do with the treasure?" Skull mentioned as he pointed to the portrait.

"We don't need to steal it." Rouge declared which surprise the Phantom Thieves. "I mean, isn't these treasures originally their desire that got them to where they're standing. He's a leader of the Black Fang after all.

"Let's forget that he unknowingly supported us when we were children. We wouldn't of gotten anywhere without his guidance." Lotus agreed.

They turned to the Phantom Thieves to approve of their judgement. "Well, he wasn't originally a corrupted person..." Queen pointed out.

"So he not evil? Aw man, and we almost got the wrong person." Skull sighed.

"That ain't reassuring." Bones sighed.

"Our Kingdom still needs you, Gaius-sensei. I can't think of anyone who can lead a guild against the Grimm but you." Raiden told him as he offered a hand.

Shadow Gaius stares back him as he reminds him of Souji. **"You certainly take after your foolish father."** He chuckled as he shakes his hand as he looks towards familiar faces. **"We'll meet soon enough."** He said as he then takes the treasure and walks away, fading out into sparkling specs of light.

"So... did we do it? Wh-whoa! What the!?" Blaze stuttered as the area started to shake.

"It's time for us to go! This place gonna collapse since the treasure disappeared." Mona reminded.

"WHAT!?" The Huntsmen exclaimed.

"W-Why didn't you guys told us about that sooner!?" Chan questioned frantically.

"I thought you guys knew! Didn't Raiden or Kaze told you the specifics!?" Mona questioned.

"No... they did not!" Blanc stated angrily as she glares at Kaze.

"N-Never mind that, RUN!" Kaze exclaimed as they all immediately agreed.

"We're gonna die! We're all gonna die!" Kuma panicked as he retreated as the ceiling sky of the Palace fell onto the ground.

"H-Hey, wait! We gotta retreat, to the exit!" Rook exclaimed. They all ran out of the area as the sky started to fall. Structures and foliage were also breaking down all around them as they tread through them all, even through the hallways of the crumbling castle.

"The entrance! We're nearly-" Sakura exclaimed until debris fell in front of it.

"No no no! It's blocked!" Mona exclaimed.

"Shit, it's gonna take a while before we-" Kaze staggered until Cognitive Yu rushed through the group and swipe Raiden of the Katana he was holding.

"That is my master's weapon you're taking!" Cognitive Yu exclaimed as he swung a vaccum wave towards the debris, blocking the entrance, also destroying the door in the process and revealing the clear exit. "Lord Gaius, specifically told you to leave, now do so or else!" He exclaimed monotonously as he held the weapon on his shoulder.

"Couldn't agree more!" Bones agreed as he and the group immediately rushed out, leaving the Cognitive Yu inside as the Palace destroyed itself soon after.

* * *

8/03 **Black Fang HQ** Afternoon

Back in reality everyone was taking deep breaths as some were off their feet as they were exhausted. Is... everyone accounted for...?" Makoto questioned.

"I think we're all okay..." Ann sighed.

"Man... I never thought I'd had to sprint again..." Ryuji groaned. "Hey, Mona, couldn't you turned into a car like last time?"

"How could I when I don't have enough room for all of them. I couldn't even fit the van in some painting or whatever!" Morgana complained.

"You can turn yourself into a van?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, but only in the Metaverse." Morgana answered.

"So then, the palace...?" Ruby recalled as she tried to bring up the MetaNav.

 _"The Destination has been deleted."_ The MetaNav stated.

"Guess that's that." Jaune said with relief. "Do you guys always have to deal with this?"

"Every heist, every time. Even I'm begged to wonder." Makoto sighed.

"And we left empty-handed." Yusuke added.

"So... what now? We wait or something?" Nora asked.

"That the gist of it. "We won't be able to know the results right away." Makoto explained.

"Thieves normally lay low until this whole thing blows over, after all." Ryuji included.

"If anyone asks, it's that we encountered stray Grimm in the city and we dealt with it." Akira stated.

"I guess that's a plausible excuse. We can all use the rest." Blake agreed.

"And something to eat. I can go for those burger from that Big Bang place!" Nora suggested.

"She went right at the biggest burger challenge and ate the whole thing." Ren mentioned.

"What!? Aw man I gotta take that challenge too!" Chie stated. "Yosuke buy me the burger!

"Why do keep asking me to buy you stuff!?" Yosuke retorted.

"Because I'm still paying my debt to Junior back in Vale. I'm on temporary leave because of this trip, you know?" Chie recalls.

"But that was your fault to begin with!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"At least some normalcy returned to us." Morgana said with relief. "Let's retire for the day and see the results tomorrow." He suggested.

 ***Infinity**

The Students did everything they can for the time being and can only await the results tomorrow. Will Gaius return to his position? Only time will soon tell.

Left our everyday  
Ordinary ways  
At the door, don't need them here

Ruby walking in a red back ground as the screen flickers of her Teammates and Team JNPR

Latest hype brand goods  
Ain't our kind of loot  
Got our eyes on stealing doubts and fear

Yu walking in a yellow background as the screen flickers of the rest of the Investigation Team

And sometimes  
Got our eyes on someone special

Minato walking in a blue background with the screen flickering of the rest of the SEES members.

Look how far we've come

Phantom Thief Masks flickers as it fades to reveal Akira walking.

Found a bond that lasted  
We'll outshine the sun  
Nothing matters more than us  
Nothing matters more than trust

Akira walking in a red background with the screen flicker of the Phantom Thieves.

Sometimes all it takes

Then the screen rapidly shows the SEES evoker, then a tarot card in hand and then a hand holding onto a mask.

Is a chance encounter  
For your heart to break  
Speeds of sound and light alike  
Like a bolt of lightning strike  
Through infinity

The screen finally shows the four wild cards wielders walking together in a rainbow background with Yu on the far left, followed by Akira, then Minato, and Ruby in their combat outfits walking together with confidence as singer adding her voice in the mix as the song ends with the screen shows the Phantom Thieves logo.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, with this, this will finish the Gaius's Palace arc. Next arc will be Futaba's Palace and the Huntsmen will have to aid the Phantom Thieves in order to help prevent the "Medjed Crisis" (Temp. Title).**

 **Vol. 6 is out for those first members I hear, but the Volume is now up either way... Make sure to watch every other episode to catch up with the series.**

 **For the boss of this chapter, I implemented the Byakko from Final Fantasy XIV and the unusual idea to distort ones heart temporary... well that idea was brought up from another game... uncertain to say. I hope the fight was spot on compared to what happens in the game itself.**

 **And just so you know, I'm not ending this volume right away, there's still their trip to Tatsumi Port Island, Inaba, and back to Tokyo, so I won't end the volume around 11-12 chapters, no. This is going to be a longer volume compared to the other volume of RWBY.**

 **Which also wanted to ask you guys which location should I go after? Tatsumi Port Island (Persona 3) or Yasoinaba (Persona 4)? I add a poll in my page for you guys to choose while I work on the Futaba chapters.**

 **No Omakes unfortunately. Like I said, if some of your ideas are good, I can added them, for now, Happy Halloween, everyone! (This part may be consider a holiday break for me.)**

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Life Will Change (Instrumental ver.) -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Blooming** **Villain -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Todoroki -** **Masayoshi Soken**

 ***Amatsu Kaze -** **Masayoshi Soken**

 ***Infinity - Shoji Meguro**


	9. The Medjed Case

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, they are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **The Medjed Case**

No Date Confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Morning

In the Interrogation Room, Gaius looked up and pondered about everything he heard from Ruby. "I see... Somehow, I do recall inviting you all to a feast after my guild's successful defense."

"Oh yeah, that was a great dinner party." Ruby agreed recalled.

"Indeed... back to your recollection, another occurrence has happened prior to your successful so-called 'heist'. Do you know anything after that? Anyone you've met recently?" Gaius asked.

"Hmm... anyone I met..." Ruby pondered as she recalled something. "Oh! We met someone that was around our age. A girl who was a great at hacking stuff... uh..."

"I'm not going to go after that person in question, I only need you to remember everything, at your friends request." Gaius reassured. "So other than just the hacker, do you recall the Medjed Crisis?

"Medjed? Oh, right! I think it was right after misplaced my scroll that time after your palace." Ruby recalled as tells her tale.

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

8/04 **Shibuya, Japan** Morning

Upon the monitors of the screens around Tokyo, an announcement has begun. It shows Gaius making a statement, despite his lethargic state.

 _"... As of this moment, the last of Grimm has been quelled."_ Gaius declared. _"We have renewed the barriers that was lost within the western province with the technology the Kirijo group provided. What circumstances that cause the Grimm to invade the are now under investigations under the authority of the Police and the Black Fang will provide our assistance upon the matter."_

 _"And what about the Phantom Thieves? Do you think that they are responsible for this disaster?"_ An off-camera interviewer asked.

 _"The Phantom Thieves? I'm pretty sure I said something regarding them the last time I was on air; That those thieves are the Police's responsible for their arrest. They're only thieves are they not?"_ Gaius questioned.

 _"But with their ability to steal their hearts and all, don't you think that this phenomenon could be a possibility that the Grmm invasion was their fault? Not to mention that they also targeted you."_ The interview questioned.

 _"And there is no conclusive evidence to prove them in the wrong, considering that their prank was what got me up, especially when my men's lives were on the line while I am still recovering!"_ Gaius exclaimed as the interviewers zipped their mouth from his roar. _"I will say this once again; I am not a fan of those wretched thieves, but my guild is meant to deal with external forces that threaten this Kingdom, the creatures of Grimm, terrorist, and major criminals that hide within Japan, not to catch petty thieves. I trust the police that they will catch them one of these days, sooner I hope."_

 _"And if they turn out to be nothing but murderous?"_ Another interviewer asked.

 _"Then the Police will ask us for our help to support the chase. For now, there is no reason to waste resources on thieves. I believe that's all I have to give you, I have to follow up and supervise upon this incident regarding the Grimm invasion. My heart's out to other Kingdoms that are recovering from Grimm invasions elsewhere, even overseas."_ Gaisu declared as he walk out with interviewers begging for more answers from him.

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

8/04 **Cafe Leblanc** Morning

Akira and Morgana were sitting at the cafe bar in Leblanc, eating Sojiro's breakfast usual's as they watch the news announcement. "It seems Gaius doesn't care too much about us." Morgana meowed.

"And those thieves are gonna have to steal hearts under his radar." Akira chuckled in agreement.

"What exactly is going on in this city..." Sojiro sighed as another customer enter. "Oh, welcome back." He greeted Team RWBY and Team JNPR.

"Hiya, Mr. Sakura. Did you happened to find my scroll around here? I think I dropped it around here somewhere." Ruby asked.

"Sure thing." Sojiro answered, taking out the scroll Ruby misplaced. "Found it squished between the seats.

"Oh thank you! I would've been screwed if I lost it." Ruby showed her gratitude with a sigh of relief.

"That would definitely spell trouble." Blake nodded as the members of the Investigation Team followed along with the other members of the Phantom Thieves arrived.

"Hello again, boss!" Ann waved at the cafe owner.

"Whoa, I wasn't expecting a full house of all of you! What's the occasion?" Sojiro asked but then recalled last night. "Wait, are you all here for a follow-up?"

"That's reassuring, all things considered." A new voice appeared as a punk-rock woman, with dark blue hair in a messy bob-cut with blunt bangs and brown eyes, even donning a typical white lab-coat, with a Black Fang armband, that is worn over a short black dress, entered after. She looks towards all the students in the room, sighing by the number of students she looking at. "I'm still surprised by how so many of you were injured in an ambush. I thought most of the Grimm that got through were all but juveniles... or so I might've heard."

"I think you've misheard, Doctor Takemi..." Pyrrah reassured with a sweat-drop.

"Anyways, isn't this floor a little cramped? We could use the 2nd floor's open space." Takemi suggested.

"That's fine, I'm about have customers soon, too." Sojiro agreed as they all gathered into Akira's room.

* * *

An hour later, Takemi eventually finishes up with the last patient among the group. "... I don't see why being a Spider Faunus is bad luck, my spit really does work as a healing agent, you know.

"It actually works." Akira confirmed.

"Gross... but I guess it is efficient..." Weiss stuttered in disgust.

"You know as some would say, 'use poison to kill poison', 'fight fire with fire'?" Takemi chuckled as she finishes up. "Anyways, you guys have no broken bones anywhere, no sores, or any cuts, you guys are fine." She stated.

"Thank you for the check-up. How much will that be?" Blake asked.

"Oh, it's on the house." Takemi replied.

"Are you sure? I mean, we can't just accept a free check-up." Chie denied.

"That's alright, my guinea pig here is covering for you guys, right? I think you guys don't need to worry." Takemi pointed at Akira who sweat-dropped in response. The Doctor packs up her equipment and prepare to leave. "Make sure you swing by for another test, okay?"

"Right..." Akira nodded as she leaves the room.

"Guinea pig...?" Yang muttered as she and some other girls in the room giggles.

"I help her test medicine and drugs. That way she'll would sell some medicine we'll need during our heists." Akira explained.

"That's fine. So while we're all here, think we can do an after-heist meeting?" Ruby suggested.

"Boss mentioned the he's gonna have customers soon, let's be quiet for this meeting." Makoto agreed.

"Alright. Let's discuss was happened in Gaius's Palace. We learn that his Palace was fabricated with the help of Byakko." Yosuke started off.

"'The Deity of the western province'. Gaius's Shadow mentioned something that he was able to... twist his heart temporary in order to create the Black Fang leader's palace."

"It seems Gaius-sensei took a gamble, and it almost got to him." Yu said in his perspective.

"But the fact that a Deity can do that is unheard of. Are the Deity Lords who can only do that or any Deity can do that?" Ren wondered.

"And how was this information not heard of outside of Japan?" Weiss also questioned. "That form of process is really serious!"

"It sorta was." Yukiko answered.

"'Was'?" They ask.

"The knowledge regarding the Deities were left out of the history books weren't they? We're not sure why, but it was a huge controversy that threaten their existence. Yusuke mentioned.

"You guys could probably check with the teacher today... Oh, wait... don't you guys have head to Shujin by now" Ryuji mentioned.

"What!?" Every student, excluding the Shujin students and Yusuke, staggered by what Ryuji said.

"We're gonna be late!" Ruby exclaimed as she rushed down stair with here semblance.

"Ruby don't just run off or you'll get us lost again!" Weiss complained as she tries to catch up with her.

"Yeah, talk later!" Kanji agreed as they piled and fell down the stairs as Sojiro, below, started yelling at them.

"They should've walked down in a calmly manner." Yusuke commented.

"At this hour? I don't know." Ann sighed as Makoto realized as well.

"Oh shoot! I still have reports to finish, too! Make sure you guys behave." The President realized as she took a look at her watch as she then rushed off as well.

* * *

8/04 **Beacon Academy** Daytime

 **World of Remnant: Deities part 2**

Professor Ozpin started up another of Souji's audio documents as it regards to the Deities once more.

"Okay, I've been looking into things and they are incredibly extraordinary... are they similar words...? No? Okay... Interesting things. It turns out these Deities are more than just your everyday fairy tales... which I mean that they have some sort of 'scientific' circumstances than what I heard recently..." Souji mentioned as the screen portrayed silhouettes of giant animal figures.

"I still think there more than what I've heard so far, but they are as cryptic as my headmaster, full of secrecy... of course, I may actually overstepping my bounds." He added as Ozpin frowned.

"But back to the topic, I may have found some more details that I found available. Apparently their forms appear as what ought to be called a sudden mutations of normal animals and are differentiated from their regular kind... the difference is base on some unusual DNA they hold. I'm no scientist, but that's some summary regarding their ability to synchronize with their Human or Faunus partner." Souji explained as the screen add a DNA panel to the side of the original picture.

"This whole thing goes deep, and I'm having difficult time understanding any of this... Seeing that they can synchronize with us, so they can... fuse with their partner? I know it sounds very strange, but one point I witnessed that fusion and it was very... cool. Well, because of the genetic strains combined they'd become something, a creature possessing a... quadruple? Triple...? Er... hold on... Ah ha! A fivefold-helix... wait... oh right, a quintuple-helix strain. Like I said, all scientific. This whole thing allows people to use the so-called magic while synchronized, chained together, if putted bluntly." He stated as the screen portrayed a human body and a deity with a DNA strain between them, followed by a screen portraying both human and deity with a line between them, stating their link.

"While Synchronization might be understood easily if it is thought of as telepathy, it might be harder to explain the 'Perfect Synchronization'... Think of it as a the DNA spliced together while other DNA are not. Simply put, by achieving this Perfect Synchronization, one's abilities will increase twice as much and you will have the appearance of a Faunus of the deity you fused with. That said, I've been told that the longest that Perfect Synchronization could be maintained is for a few minutes.

"Unlike normal Faunus, who have one animal trait, you'll have at least two of animal traits, while perfectly synchronized." He said as the screen shows the person with animal ears and a tail.

"I'll honest, this whole synchronization thing is ultimately unheard of, never heard of this before I visited this Kingdom... And all this science stuff is really difficult... I rather not dig any deeper is it's serious information. What? Something that's not too important? Hmm... Oh, I did notice that some Faunus here already have two animal traits. I think I said that just now... They're not synchronized Faunus? For real? So let me get this straight. These type of Faunus, dubbed 'Demi-Faunus' are technically ordinary Faunus... from some ancient mutation or something? I guess that's makes some sense." Souji stated as the screen show a normal Faunus and a Demi-Faunus on the same screen. One with only a tail and the other one with a tail and a pair of ears.

"It's quite unbelievable of what I'm seeing in the Kingdom of Japan. I have to wonder about the other Kingdom's point of view of this Kingdom. Loads of mixed reviews I bet." Souji assumes as the screen displays the Map of Japan. Ozpin sipped his cup of coffee as he swings his chair to face the sky. _"The Deities are truly extraordinary beings, that's for sure."_ Ozpin thought.

* * *

8/04 **Shujin Academy** After School

As the students were exiting the campus as Seta appears before them. "Yu-kun!"

"Okaa-san! You're okay!" Yu exclaimed as he walks towards her but Seta immediately embraces him before he can react.

"I was worried sick for your safety, Yu-kun, I thought the Grimm almost hurt you!" Seta exclaimed loudly as she began to shed tears as she embraced her son tightly.

"Th-that's so... like... you... Okaa-san... ow...!" Yu struggles as he felt as his spine was about to break.

"We took care of him, I assure you, Narukami-san." Yosuke assured her.

"What about you? You made us worried sick, even Yu-kun had concerns for you." Chie replied.

"And I thank you all for your concerns." Seta bowed to them. That being said, is Team NYCA and Team KRST here?" She asked.

"Not really..." Kanji mentioned.

"Rise-chan and Nao-chan are performing their own duties as we speak. I miss them beary much." Teddie whined.

"Is there something that you need from us?" Yukiko asked.

"Yes... do you remember that you guys suggested the school trip selection? Your principle agree, but they would like to have your input and your assistance on preparing for your Beacon friends' visit." Seta reminded.

"Whoa, seriously!?" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, we could show them around our town!" Chie recalled.

"And we'll have to asked my family inn for reservations, too..." Yukiko agreed.

"Guess we'll hafta tell Naoto and Rise, huh." Kanji mentioned.

"That's right we can't leave them bear-hind!" Teddie exclaimed.

"I will have to go with them, wouldn't I?" Yu said to his mother. She was sweating bullets to that fact. "Okaa-san, can I count on you to watch over our Beacon friends?" He requested, much to his mother's shock.

"... Okay..." Seta muttered as she walks away sadden but turned back to add something. "I forgot to mention, Gaius is hosting a welcome party at his guild for you students tomorrow night, can you relay this to the others, thank you. You can also bring your friends you made in Shujin." She added as she walked away mope away.

"I think she has a son-complex..." Yosuke assumes.

"I think so too..." Yu sighed as they waited for the Beacon students as they washed up.

* * *

After Ruby got out of the wash room, she soon recalls her scroll vibrate while class was in session. Apparently she has received text message from an unknown caller with an image of a cat with a smug smile.

 _"Nice to meet you, I am the one they call Alibaba. I have a question for you. You're a Huntress that's associated with the Phantom Thieves, are you?"_ The messenger asked, shocking Ruby when the messenger mentioned the Phantom Thieves.

"Wh-how...!?" Ruby stuttered with surprise. _"How does he know that I know the Phantom Thieves!?"_ Ruby pondered as another text message appeared.

 _"There is someone whose heart I would like you to steal. I'm not asking for charity, so let's make a deal. Have you heard about the international hacktivists group called Medjed? I can give you guys information on them if the change of heart is successful. Do you believe in my skills? I can track down their accounts, just as I have with yours."_ The messenger stated.

"Med... jed?" Ruby wondered as she tries to reply. _"Who are you? And who's this Medjed group?"_ She asked in her text.

 _"What I can do is all the details I can give you, to prove at the moment. I've also sent a necessary tool on another end. Look forward to it. Huntress/Phantom Thief."_ Alibaba texted.

 _"Hey wait! Who is this?"_ Ruby texted, but her scroll couldn't find the account to send the response. She only gotten back an error message. "Who was that...?" Ruby muttered as her teammates came up to her.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Weiss questioned.

"Hey guys, apparently I got a weird text message just now." Ruby mentioned.

"A weird text message?" Blake wondered.

"Anyway, what's up? Something going on?" Ruby asked.

"Oh yeah, get this! The Black Fang leader is hosting a banquet just for us!" Yang exclaimed.

"I have to wonder what kind of cuisine they're going to serve." Weiss wondered.

"I bet there is going to be a lot of fish." Blake guessed as the thought of fish made her stomach growled.

"Wow, your really are in to fish, huh?" Ruby commented as she still had the unknown messenger in mind. "By the way, is the Makoto around? There's something I wanted to bring up with her and the others." She mentioned.

* * *

8/04 **Granbell Hotel** Afternoon

"Holy shit, this place is so grand...!" Ryuji stated as they looked around the hotel room where the Student Huntsmen were all staying.

"Is this the place you guys are staying at?" Ann questioned the whole group.

"Never that we expected either." Jaune agreed.

"So what did you want say when you wanted to talk to everyone, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"It's this. Someone knows that I'm working with the Phantom Thieves." Ruby stated as she shows everyone the unknown messenger, much to everyone's surprise. She did not withhold any details regarding it.

"Considerin' he mentioned stealin' hearts, he knows, doesn't he?" Ryuji assumed.

"H-How were we found out!?" Jaune staggered.

"How careless, I knew we shouldn't of work with you lot...!" Weiss groaned.

"Much to the matter at hand, did this person trace our chat log?" Blake asked.

"But how would he have known all these details with just that?" Makoto questioned.

"You think that there another cause?" Yukiko asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure why, but that's the feeling I get." Makoto nodded.

"It be easy to look at another's chat log by looking over one's should could that be how Ruby got these messages?" Pyrrha guessed.

"That doesn't work that much if the owner see the person behind him. He may have extracted our phones' data?" Makoto assumes.

"... Ruby did left it back at Leblanc." Ren mentioned as Ruby sweat-drops.

"Still, why is she getting an error when she tries to reply? The receiving end doesn't exist?" Chie adds up.

"Is that even possible? Are we going up against ghosts!?" Nora exclaimed.

"I doubt I know much about it." Makoto denied with a sigh.

"Wait, might this be what is referred as hacking?" Yusuke asked.

"Oh crap, then that means this guy's a hacker!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Ugh, I don't get all this high tech stuff! What does this all mean?" Morgana meowed his questioned.

"It means an unknown hacker contacted us." Yu declared.

"I... still don't really get it." Morgana still did understand.

"Then is that person Medjed?" Yusuke assumes.

"Medjed?" The Huntsmen asked.

"An international hacktivists group. There was a talk show about on TV last night. You all went to bed early, did you guys?" Akira mentioned as he looks to the Huntsmen-in-training.

"Still, I doubt it, he said that wants to 'deal' with them. That is, only if we take his words for face value." Yosuke shook his head.

A moment of silence as Ryuji has gotten an idea. "Hey... Wouldn't it be great if we got this guy on our side?"

"We don't know nothing about his identity at all. We can't trust him." Makoto disagreed.

"Really? I don't think think it's a bad idea though..." Ryuji assumed.

"He hacked Ruby's scroll and ask someone to steal someone's heart. Regardless of Ruby's clumsiness, there is no way I would work with someone that low." Weiss declared her disagreement.

"Too low." Blake bluntly disagreed.

Ruby: "Hey..."

"Even if Alibaba turns out to be a criminal? I am not helping anyone of the sorts." Yusuke agreed with the girls.

"Oh, right, that wouldn't be good..." Ryuji said, turning down the idea.

"Could this be some prank?" Ruby wondered as she looks towards her scroll.

"I don't know, he seems to know an awful lot for it to be a prank." Chie voiced her thought. "Then again, it'd be bad if we were all caught."

"I don't think so, if he wanted to reported us, he would've done it by now. He might actually have an objective of his own. He did make a deal with us, after all." Yu reminded them. "I'm sure he'll contact us again."

"There ain't any tellin' when thought..." Kanji siad with uncertainty.

"Could this hack be a lovely lady hacker?" Teddie wondered as they all sweat-dropped.

"I think it's best that we stay together for now. if something happens, we can act together." Makoto suggested.

"'For now. Not that we want to share more bad new, but our school called us. we have to prep for Beacon's visit to Inaba." Yosuke reminded.

"What!? Why didn't say that sooner!?" Ryuji questioned.

"Hey, it was out of our hands we can't just disagreed! You guys already knew that we only have a limited time vacation before we have to head back to Beacon." Yosuke retorted.

"We only have 3 weeks to visit Japan, a week between Tokyo, Inaba, and Pot Island." Yu mentioned. "We weren't originally supposed to help you guys." He added.

"... True, being huntsmen have a higher calling compared to our thievery..." Yusuke inclined.

"Aw.. for real...?" Ryuji protested.

"If it makes you guys feel better, us Yasogami students are going to head out first, so the the Huntsmen of Beacon should be able to help you before they leave." Yu assured.

"Sure thing!" Ruby nodded.

"That's reassuring." Akria sighed with relief.

Another moment of silence as Blake recalled something. "Oh, right. The Black Fang leader is hosting a banquet tomorrow night. Do you guys wanna come?"

"A banquet from the Black Fang? A banquet means that there's a lot of food, right?" Nora asked.

"Oh, I am so in!" Ryuji agreed as the rest of the Phantom Thieves agreed as well.

"We might even get a chance to actually meet Gaius himself..." Morgana agreed.

"Alright then, let's catch each other tomorrow, then." Akira agree as he picks up his bag with Morgana with him as the group leaves.

"So what time are you guys leaving?" Ruby asked Yu.

"Couple days from now, the day after tomorrow." Yu replied.

"We should have the full day to explore the city, it's been a while since I've been in the big city." Yosuke mentioned.

* * *

8/05 **Shujin Academy** After School

 ***Tokyo Daylight**

The next day the group all gathered outside the school to suggest an idea to pass the time. "So... what do you guys think we should do?" Ruby asked.

"I dunno. We don't have any mean to do, even against this Medjed group." Yu replied.

"Why not hit the arcade? I think there's one in Shibuya." Ryuji suggested. "Ooh there's a new shooting arcade game out, too!" He realized.

"That shooting game? Last I check, that arcade game was in the Gigolo Arcade in Akihabara." Akira corrected.

"Wait, you've been there?" Ryuji asked as his leader nodded.

"Akia bara? shooting game?" Ruby repeated.

"Akihabara. Just say Akiba. It's another district in our city, the shooting game they mention is over there if you wanna try it out." Morgana explained.

"Sure, I guess we could use some fun. Right guys?" Ruby suggested to her teammates.

"I think we got the time. There's also a exhibit I wanted to visit, at Kitaguwa's suggestion." Weiss agreed.

"There's a lot of place to see while we're still in the city, no reason not to stay in one place." Blake agreed.

"Ohh... you think got the best selling beefbowls here?" Chie wondered much to the groups with their sweat-dropped expression.

* * *

8/05 **Akihabara, Japan** Daytime

When they arrive to the district, they find themselves amidst the crowd. "Wow, is so crowded!" Ruby exclaimed.

"It's no less from Shibuya, that's for sure, but what's the occasion?" Yosuke wondered as the group sees Mishima nearby.

"Oh, hey guys!" Mishima notices them back as he approaches they group.

"Hey, Mishima, any idea what's going on?" Ryuji asked.

"You didn't know? It's all over the internet!" Mishima exclaimed.

"What is?" Ruby asked.

"Risette! She's giving autographs along with the 'Fortuna Entertainment' group." Mishima explained.

"Risette's here!? Ah man, I gotta get an autograph!" Ryuji exclaimed as he rushed in line.

"Wow, Rise's really popular, huh?" Ruby commented.

"I mean, she is a good singer, but nothing too note worthy." Weiss scoffed otherwise.

"You know her? Personally?" Mishima wondered.

"Rise-chan is our lovely Teammate Huntress of, yours truly, Team KRST!" Teddie declared proudly.

"What!?" Mishima staggered. "W-Wait, are you serious, a huntress!? Risette!?"

"That's correct." Yukiko nodded.

"Thank you, thank you, everyone! I hope you all come to our concert on any occasions!" Rise declared as her fans in line cheered her on.

"Make sure you guys get in line for your autographs!" Another girl, a faunus with horse-like ears, long black hair with her bangs clipped together by five clips, and wearing a similar stylish outfit like Rise's waved to the crowd as well.

"There's really no way to meet her directly, huh...?" Chie assumes.

"The crowd's too frickn' thick to pass through." Kanji groaned.

"Yeah, we'll have to try again, later." Yosuke suggested as they nodded.

* * *

They arrive at a museum where they gaze upon paintings that Yusuke mentioned. Everyone else were people watching at the same time at Yusuke's suggestion.

"This one is showed to be the manifestation of one's soul." Yusuke pointed out to the painting displayed.

"I can see it. There a strong emphasis on the meaning." Ann stated.

Weiss browsed the room further as she stumbles across an unusual painting. A pair of dragons in conflict, a long-length dragon one that shines brightly and other that's has a darker violet presence, even with its head revealing more skeletal. "What is... this...?" Weiss asked.

"That...? Hmm... I'm unsure..." Yusuke ponders as he takes a closer look upon the description. "This is portrayed as 'Aspects of the Brother Gods'; Kohryu and Shinryu. Beings that once held their presence in our world once before the left Remnant." He explained.

"The... Brother Gods...?" Weiss muttered. "I heard a story of the Deity Brothers in one of those religious books stating them. Over hundreds of years ago. Are they not similar?"

"You may be right. This painting only portrays their aspects after all. Not the gods themselves." Yusuke agrees.

Blake was still conflicted with the idea. "... Now that I think of it, aren't the deities of this Kingdom count as gods or something? If what the history teachers here say so, then..."

"Oh, not at all. Our deities may have powers that are beyond our observation, but they are not as equal to the actual gods. They said so themselves." Yusuke corrected. "Thought they have their powers, the also bear the responsibility to wield it."

Weiss: "I see..."

"Still, why is my gut feeling odd about this portrait...?" Blake muttered her question.

* * *

At the arcade, Ruby was shooting like crazy as she scoring like crazy, even when pitted against a boy wearing a hat.

"Wh-What!? How!?" The Boy staggered at the record screen.

"Well, shooting Grimm everyday is great practice. Still... someone your age, you certainly have skills." Ruby complimented.

"I'm always good at shooting games." The Boy replied confidently as he inserted another token into the arcade machine. "I guess I tend to get all heated up about it."

"Well, in live combat, you'll usually end up filled with adrenaline, especially when you might not have time to think straight." Ruby agrees. "I'm Ruby Rose, by the way."

"... Shinya Oda." He introduces himself as he them contemplates as the game starts. "You huntsmen are so lucky. You guys can do anything all night long."

"Well, that's an understatement. We're fighting for our lives and protecting others, so we can't exactly afford so much breaks, Shinya." Ruby said with reason. "And we're students, too. We get homework and have to class... It's incredibly tough as it is and just being strong won't cut it."

"I see. Honestly, even I want to be strong like you guys." Shinya stated followed by a glare. "I certainly refuse to lose to the like of you."

"Well... you'll have to beat the record I got." Ruby pointed at the record screen, with her rank above Shinya's, much to his chagrin.

"I-It's not over yet! You may be older than me, but this is far from over!" Shinya declared as Ruby sweat-dropped.

Ruby's friends were all spectating as Shinya persists, so did other spectators watched.

"Wow, that King's persistent, huh?"

"Never before I seen him get wiled up against any opponent, especially an older girl!"

"That's just humiliating..."

After those comments, Shinya staggered as he missed a shot, which made him irritated... which made him miss a shot.

"Tsk..." Shinya grunted at the game over screen.

"Wanna go again?" Ruby asked as Shinya nodded as they continued.

"How long are they gonna go at it!?" Weiss questioned.

"All day. I mean, Ruby-chan a beary great marksman!" Teddie stated with awe.

"Yeah, who could even beat her record?" Yosuke sighed.

* * *

8/05 **Ichigaya, Japan** Afternoon

After a few hours the Shujin Students then guided the Beacon students to a fishing pond where they began to fish for a while. "Not sure why were here... not the best place to enjoy our time..." Weiss sulked.

"That's because you haven't been catching anything. Your friends seems to be catching more than you." Ryuji stated as they see Blake and Yukiko catching fish like crazy."

"Not only that they use the right bait, but this requires patience, a clear mind, and timing." Kawakami stated as entered the fishing pond much to the student's surprise.

"Oh crap... Kawakami!? What're you doin' here!?" Ryuji questioned.

"That's MS. Kawakami to you!" She retorted as she sat down on a stool nearby, casting her reel and began fishing. Soon enough, she too, was fishing up a storm as well.

"Wow, could she be our master fisher?" Ann wondered.

"Yeah, she's hookin' fish like crazy...!" Kanji agreed.

"It's easy. Just clear your mind and free yourself from negative thoughts." Kawakami explained.

"So... the trick is to not think?" Jaune wondered. "How are we to do that...?"

"I don't think that much of anything, if that means anything." Nora suggested until she got a bite.

"So if we tell ourselves that we don't want any fish... perhaps we will catch them soon enough?" Pyrrha guessed as she casts her line.

"Well, that ain't working for me. I'm askin' tips because I WANNA get fish." Ryuji denied otherwise.

"It's a nice sunny afternoon, and I'm stuck fishing with you students after work." Kawakami sighed depressingly. "A combination of Huntsmen, troublemakers, and a no-good teacher. I guess we're perfect for each other." She sighed again, as she reeled in another fish.

"Huh... she's catching fish while she nags." Yang realized with surprise.

"Perhaps we should we call her 'Master' Kawakami?" Weiss chuckled as she soon realized herself that she has hooked a fish herself for the first time.

"*Chuckle*... Once again, that's MS. Kawakami" The Teacher retort with a chuckle.

* * *

8/05 **Shinjuku, Japan** Afternoon

As the sky began to dim, and the students began treading back to Shibuya, but ended up in Shinjuku. "Did we catch the wrong train?" Ruby asked as she gazes up at pretty red lights lighting up.

"Pretty much..." Jaune agreed.

"Wait, where did the Shujin students go?" Weiss recalled as they soon realized the were separated.

"Well, this is bad... Does anyone have their number?" Yang asked.

"They just texted back. They told us to head to a bar 'Crossroads'." Yu answered.

"A bar? That's perfect!" Yang cheered as she walked forward.

As they followed Yang with Yu guiding them, Blake, Weiss, and Pyrrha, noticed a lot of gaudy people around. "Oh no..." Blake muttered.

"You know what's going on?" Weiss asked.

"This place is a red-light district, a very 'mature' area..." Blake replied as Weiss staggered.

"What!? Then why is this 'Crossroad' bar around here!?" Weiss whispered back.

"A place so shady, it's perfect place for 'thieves'." Blake sighed as Weiss scoffed, getting the idea.

As they walked through the area, a Faunus Fortune Teller called out to them. "E-Excuse me!" The Fortune Teller drew their attention. A Fox-eared Faunus with purple eyes, long blonde hair, and wears a big navy blue headband. She wears a necklace with a small red jewel resembling a teardrop and wears a navy blue long sleeved shirt. Over this is a light purple dress with clock-like black designs. "For the young lady with silver eyes, I can sense an impending fate that will render your memory lost!" She exclaimed behind her desk.

"What!? I-Isn't a way to prevent it?!" Ruby staggered.

"Ruby please, you can't really believe in this fortune telling nonsense." Weiss denied in disbelief.

"Well, it isn't everyday we get our fortune read." Ruby shrugged her partner's protest as she approaches the Fortune Teller. "So... did you have something in mind?"

"Let us see..." The Fortune Teller replied as she shuffle her deck of Tarot Cards. As she reads the cards, it soon revealed the Hanged Man Arcana. "Ah...! I see...!" She stuttered.

"What did you see?" Ruby asked as the others watched.

"The Hanged Man Arcana. In the face of disaster lies the opportunity for renewal." The Fortune Teller stated. "You will be caught between two different extremes, parties or stages in life. An impending crisis soon to come and many more to come, and yet, opportunities to counter them will be laid bare."

"Cool... Well, I won't be able to get anywhere, certainly not alone, after all." Ruby noted.

"Indeed." The Fortune Teller agreed as she revealed another tarot card, the Fool Arcana. "That will be a thousand yen, please."

Ruby: "Wait, what?"

"Well that's literally poor business if you don't bring up the price before you start the session." Blake shook her head as they paid the price.

"Her fortune telling is legit." Akira stated as he and his group approached the Student Huntsmen. "Mifune-san." He greeted her.

"Akira! Where have guys been?" Weiss questioned.

"We have to take a train back here! You guys got lost, didn't you?" Ryuji complained.

"We're sorry, we haven't been to the big city before so..." Yukiko apologized.

"Are you friends with my regular?" Mifune asked.

"He and his friends are showing us around the city." Jaune answered. "I mean, is he a regular to you?"

"I see, I suppose we didn't introduce ourselves haven't we? I'm Chihaya Mifune" The Fortune Teller stood up and bowed, also revealing her Fox tail as well. It's not everyday I see foreigners in our Kingdom."

"The Student Huntsmen were looking at her tail and then to her ears. "You're... a Demi-Faunus?"

"Hmm...? Yes, I am." Mifune answered as she looked down to her cards, she unknowingly shuffled her cards, without her customers knowing, to reveal the Fool Arcana once more. "Tell you what this is on the house. It seems fate has sown people of this Arcana together. Now that's a rare insight."

"Now that's interesting." Akira nodded. "Anyways thank for you insight. But we need to heading out soon. There's a party they need to attend."

"Understood. I look forward to your next visit." Mifune bowed as they thanked her back.

But when they walked down the road, they realized one the students were missing. "Wait, where is Yang?" Blake asked.

* * *

8/05 **Crossroads** Afternoon

They eventually find her at the bar with Yang with a Cat Faunus as they were chatting up at storm. "- and then my sister was like. 'Now that's Katana!'. I can't stop getting that pun out of my head!" Yang laughed out loud.

"It's not everyday something out of a Ninjas of Love books. So they ARE a hit on foreign soil." The Cat Faunus, a paparazza muttered. She has Cat ears and black hair in a bob cut and red lips. She wears a pair of orange sunglasses on her hair, a black shirt with a motto which reads "low life fight the power," a white long-sleeved shirt under the black shirt and blue jeans. She also carries a pink fanny pack, a camera hanging from her neck and a water bottle and her shoes are black-and-white.

"Yang? ... Are you drinking?" Ruby asked as they entered the bar.

"Oh hey guys! Ohya here, was interviewing me." Yang stated looked around at the bar. "You still haven't got my drink!" She complained.

"Why should I? You're clearly under age! And what the heck is this 'Strwberry Sunrise'?!" The bartender questioned.

"Japan has a strict rule for underage drinking, you know?" Ohya mentioned as Yang groaned.

"I'd listen to the bartender, this 'You' we're talking about, Yang-chan." Chie remineded.

"Oh, alright!" Yang finally gave up. "Anyways, where are we headed again?"

"Shibuya. You guys mistook Shinjuku for Shibuya." Yu told her.

"Maybe they got drinks there...?" Yang muttered.

"While you guys are here, I'm Ichiko Ohya a reporter, should you guys be in the city, give me a holler if you want to share your thoughts. Huntsmen life is quite the tale I hear." Ohya stated as she gave Ruby a business card.

"Oh... Okay." Ruby agreed as she took the card.

"Alright, shall we get going?" Yosuke suggested as the group left the bar.

* * *

8/05 **Shibuya, Japan** Evening

As they entered the familiar alleyway. Ruby notices an gunshop, "Untouchable" with all the pictures of guns. "Ohh...! A gun shop!" She gasps as immediately went in.

"Ruby...!" Weiss groan.

"We still have time." Yang said as she followed her sister in. Everyone else followed suit.

 ***Layer Cake**

Ruby was gazing upon the variety of guns and weapons in stocked behind the glass counter, pretty much browsing all over the place. "Oh my god, this is heaven!" She stated as she inspects the guns closer.

"You seem to know your guns, kid." The gruffy receptionist chuckled as he flipped a page on a newspaper. He's middle-aged Faunus with gray hair, faint stubble, sideburns and earrings. A tattoo of a gecko is on the left side of his neck near the back with a lizard tail. He dons a gray hat with yellow ear defenders, a black turtleneck sweater, a long gray coat with a red peace symbol on it, blue jeans and dark boots. While Ruby had her face to the glass, he notices Akira with her. "A friend of yours?" He ask as Akira explains about his foreign Huntsman friends and introduces the Shopkeeper as Munehisa Iwai. "Hm, Student Huntsmen? Hate to say it kid, but all these guns are-"

"... Not real? These guns incredibly look like the part, though." Ruby replied as she slid her face on the glass, staring at the model shotgun. "Aw man, if this looked real, that m8 might've pack a punch..." Ruby commented.

"Hehe... yeah. So are you here to just window shopping, 'cause I don't think I have the right equipment for kids like you." The Shopkeeper stated.

"Say, do you have any ideas or suggestions to customize weaponry, just wondering." Blake asked as Ruby stood back up in response.

"Hmph? Where did you hear that?" The Shopkeeper questioned sternly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ruby asked, much to the confusion. "Huntsmen normally make their own weapon, it's common practice. You must've been in combat of some sort to know how to make weapons, right?" She assumes.

"I may have gotten to some conflicts, but nowadays, people normally file their weapon designs to the Kirijo Group and they deliver the materials to make'em." Iwai explained. "I suppose we do make the weapons, I think...?"

"Interesting..." Weiss muttered.

"Anyways, you think it's about time we get going, the banquet is nearby." Makoto mentioned.

"Oh no! Look at the time!" Ann realized as Weiss and Yukiko check their clock as well."

"Ugh... we ARE going to be late!" Weiss exclaimed as everyone ran out the door.

"Geez... kids these days..." Iwai sighed as he went back to his newspaper.

* * *

8/05 **Black Fang HQ** Evening

In a room in the Black Fang HQ, everyone was enjoying the welcome party as the students, Beacon, Shujin, and Yasogami, were all stuffing themselves. "Ohh... wow... the Black Fang guys have the best chefs..." Ryuji stated with his stuffed mouth. Especially Teddie and Nora were going at the spread.

"The porridge is fantastic as well. It was nice of Mr. Erston to find a 5-star chef for us." Weiss agreed.

"The texture is indeed incredible." Yusuke commented as Ren nodded in agreement.

"This fantastic sushi is incredible!" Morgana stated.

"It's not everyday we get to eat this much beef. And Yosuke's not paying this time!" Chie cheered with several beefsticks in her hands.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I am not your personal bank, Chie!" Yosuke complained in retort.

"Yu-senpai! Everyone!" Rise called out to them as she and Naoto entered the banquet.

"We were all waiting you two, Rise! Are you taking a break from your Idol business?" Yu asked.

"For today. There are so many events that I still have to do, and some shows to appear on later this week, I have a busy schedule ever since I got back." Rise mope.

"Yeah, we saw you making a debut in Akiba, we thought you were busy to meet you personally." Ruby mentioned.

"Aw man, I didn't see you guys... oh hey, it's that delinquent." Rise mentioned looking at Ryuji who the Shujin students were as surprise to see her as well.

"Holy shit, Risette's here!?" Ryuji exclaimed followed by cough from choking on his food."

"You guys really do know her." Akira muttered with surprise.

"Are they the Shujin students you guys mentioned, Senpai?" Naoto asked as Yu introduced them to each other.

"Yeah, they're the ones who're guiding us in town.

"It's ain't everyday that we see you guys friends with a detective." Ryuji commented.

"Well, it runs in the family. The Shirogane name has its history in aiding the police." Naoto responded.

"I see..." Makoto muttered as she and the other Phantom Thieves were worrying about her presence.

"B-Be cool, guys! He probably doesn't know so much." Morgana meowed.

"Perhaps we could gather information? As a group of student's viewpoint?" Yusuke suggested.

"Ohh... good idea...!" Ruyji agreed as they turned to Naoto. "So... uh... what're your thoughts on the Phantom Thieves?" He asked. everyone turned to Ryuji and Naoto.

"Straight to the point man!" Yosuke stated with a sweat-drop.

"Huh...? We I can really say that they're in the right. But with so many crimes unpunished, it's more a reason as the question; why is the Phantom Thieves important than the criminals they're punishing." Naoto stated. "You all saw my debut recently, right? I was talking about the Phantom Thieves shouldn't need to exist if the Police were doing their jobs better." Naoto explained. "I'm not fond commending criminals, but unless our authority could get their act together, the Phantom Thieves will only continue to do our job."

"That argument is clearly reasonable..." Ann stated in response to Naoto's explanation.

"I sympathize that they have that desire to deliver justice to criminals, but even going so far to change their hearts is as extreme as personally confronting them with force. Whoever they are, they must have the skills and talents to expose the criminals and their charges." Naoto commented.

"And the authorities have not gotten anywhere due to their pride and all." Gaius stated as he along with Seta arrived with server serving more delicacy.

"Yu-kun, everyone, I hope you're all enjoying your dinner?" Seta said as she sat down next to Yu and the students.

"Yeah! This steak is off the charts!" Chie stated.

"I'm glad to hear it. It's not everyday that I see foreign students on vacationing in Japan." Gaius said as he also took a seat. "... How are thing these day, young lady?" Gaius asked Blake.

"Everything is fine... I guess..." Blake muttered as everyone of them were confused at the pair of Faunus making silence.

"... Are you not going to introduce me to your friends?" Gaius asked.

"Right... " Blake agreed as she put her cup down. "I'm guessing you all heard about my Uncle?" She pointed out.

Some students reacted surprised, so did some did with Sun coughing out his drink. "Wait, what!? Your Uncle!?" Sun exclaimed.

"True story. We heard it from Blake." Yu nodded.

"Then... wouldn't that make Blakey-chan a beary important person!? Is she popular!?" Teddie questioned with random guesses.

"No, not exactly... we aren't too close as were back then, he was like a strict mentor back then." Blake told them.

"Blake was like a rascal back then. And don't get me started her rebellious personality-" Gaius scoffed as Blake interjected.

"OKAY, I think that's all you'll get from me!" Blake declared in embarrassment with some students giggled.

"Very well then..." Gaius sigh as he understood as he turns to the Yasogami Students. "And how is Beacon Academy treating you guys? I take it that feels just like home?"

"Yep, lot's of punk out there who thinks they're better, but I don't think it's any different." Kanji said.

"Chie and I have a part-time job over there, it's like running and Inn and my friends working with me." Yukiko added.

"I still can't believe that some many people still don't like Faunus. We share the same things after all..." Chie mentioned.

"It's a sad reality, that's for certain. But if we just succumb to our resentment towards each other, nothing won't change, we would only fall to our death." Gaius stated. "That's what the creatures of Grimm likes after all."

Silence filled the air once more, until Ruby brought up something. "So... I heard about you being a student of Beacon once. What was it like?" She asked as the others listen.

"Ara, isn't that a little personal?" Seta asked with concerned.

"Hmm... I think it's fine. If you son trust them to invite them, then I see no reason." Gaius assured as he began his story. "I was a normal person who had saw a world so dull. The Kingdom of Japan was so prosperous in my eyes, it was... boring." He said.

"... Boring?" Jaune repeated.

"Our Kingdom hardly had problem with the Grimm due to the Deities doing. Their presence allowed our Kingdom to move up in the world." Seta added. "Since then, we only had to deal with each other, delinquency, normal crimes within the Kingdom... you name it."

"The Deities? We keep hearing them every time. Are they that powerful to fend off the Grimm?" Yang asked.

"Well... they do have that powerful ability that wards the Grimm away. Ohh... how do we explain that..." Seta said as she muttered the last sentence.

"The Deities hold a unique power that can undermind the deter the Grimm, by synchronizing with their partner host, human or faunus. Take for example, your cat friend." Gaius pointed at Morgana as he stopped eating his fish, turning back to him. "Imagine you little friend has a DNA strain that evolved or mutated that allow them to utilize their feelings into power. You know how negative feelings can draw the Grimm? They can synchronize with their partners and use an ability to affect the Grimm, using their own feelings to fight back against the Grimm." He explained.

"We heard something like that in class. We were told that they can fuse with their partners in a way..." Weiss mentioned.

"Ahhh... 'Perfect Synchronization'. It said to one of the-" But just as Gaius was explaining a Black Fang member came into the room and approached his leader.

"Boss..." The member muttered as he whispered into his ear.

"Medjed? Did they make a move then?" Gaius he and Seta stood up and muttered privately, despite the students listening in.

"That part and the the person who mentioned it, Detective Akechi is waiting out at the lobby. Seems to want to have a word with you." The member informed.

"Okay... Tell him I be out soon." Gaius said as he checked his scroll. "Hmm... it's that late already...? Sorry, I have business top attend to once more. Your all free to finish up your dinner head out anytime." He state and turned to Seta. "Seta, I going to need you to followed up the rest of that report you wrote." He told Seta as she scowled. "Seta-"

"I know! I know..." Seta groaned. "I still concerned that Yu-kun might lose his way..."

"He is a young adult. Have you no faith in him?" Gaius sighed.

"You know, you two sound just like siblings." Ruby laughed.

"True, considering Team SEYD is that close. Compared to those buffoons of Team STRQ." Gaius mentioned which surprised the sisters.

"Tai-kun and Qrow-kun are always so fun to fool around." Seta giggled which surprised the sisters.

"You... our dad and Uncle Qrow?" Yang mentioned.

"Hm? That's right. Taiyang always has terrible puns, I bet you take after him, and Qrow? I bet that birdbrain's drinking in a tavern somewhere." Gaius scoffed with a chuckle as he left the room.

"Our Teams been though a lot over the years before you were all born. Now we just want to see you all to live your lives. Anyways, I shall see you all tomorrow morning!" Seta wave goodbye as she followed Gaius out the room.

"Wait, Gaius-san!" Ryuji exclaimed as he turned around along with Seta too.

Gaius: "Yes?"

"What do you think of the Phantom Thieves? You know, the ones who're targeting rotten adults in our society?" He questioned.

"What the- Ryuji!?" Ann exclaimed in shock, even the other students were caught by surprise by Ryuji's question.

"That idiot!" Morgana hissed.

Seta stuttered what to say but Gaius confronted him. "My answer is clear, they shouldn't be doing these acts, even though what their targets were doing is inexplicable. What is more shameful is on how the strong are preying on the weak for their own gains." He shook his head in disappointment. "What this Kingdom needs is courageous people who are willing to safeguard the lives of Japan before their own. Not just some leader who barks orders at the rear when his subordinates are dying in the leader's name, A leader who leads in the front."

"Uh... I see..." Ryuji stuttered.

"That's just a huntsman's perspective of the Kingdom that took my group in." Gauis stated. "Will that answer suffice?"

"Y-Yeah..." Ryuji nodded.

He then leaves the area as the rest of the group follows up to Ryuji. "At any case, I have to get back at work. Apparently I've assigned to another case." Naoto sighed.

"That's fine. Some of us were about to head out to Inaba tomorrow to prepare for our friend's arrival." Yu pointed at the Beacon students.

"You gotta make it, Naoto. You and Rise!" Kanji demanded.

"Like I miss another party with Senpai around, I should be able to cover my schedule. And we'll see you around too, Ruby-chan!" Rise giggled and wave to her friends as she and Naoto left the area.

"I'm gonna hit the hay as well. See you guys at the hotel!" Sun said as his Team and Team CRDL left the area.

"Guess we'll hafta head out too..." Yosuke agreed. "We're gonna head on back to the hotel. Feel free to hang around."

"Best of luck to you guys and that Medjed thing." Chie wave as Yukiko bowed farewell as they head out next, leaving the Student Huntsmen and the Phantom Thieves.

"It's a true shame that they had to go." Yusuke sighed.

"I think it's for the best, we almost botched the last heist with so many people going at it." Morgana mentioned as everyone sweat-dropped.

"Okay... So what now? I mean I keep hearing this... Medjed group being a thing." Ruby recalled.

"That group was brought up by that text you gotten right? Did you get a response?" Makoto asked.

"Nothing yet, he's been silent for a while. And this 'important tool' he brought up...?" Ruby added.

"... I think he mentioned this letter, I got it this morning." Akria mentioned as he took out a letter that show a calling card.

"A calling card? Someone sent you a card?" Yang asked.

"Who's it from? Alibaba?" Jaune asked as well.

"Probably. There's no stamp on it so someone must've directly dropped it into a mailbox at his place." Makoto said.

"That's likely the 'necessary tool' he mentioned." Morgana meowed.

"This is what he was talking about?" Weiss questioned, pointing to the calling card.

"Hmm... what going on here?" Nora wondered.

"Asked the same question, too." Ryuji sighed.

"So all we can do now is to wait for his orders, right?" Blake assumed.

"We'll have to brace ourselves before anything comes up." Yusuke suggested until Ruby's scroll rung.

Everyone in the room turned to Ruby as she took out her scroll. "...! Guys, it's him!" She alerted as everyone scooted up to her. "H-Hey! Too close!" She exclaimed as they gave her some space.

 _"Good Evening."_ The messenger, Alibaba greeted.

 _"Hi?"_ Ruby texted back.

"You're responding?" Weiss whispered her questioned.

"We're gonna need to get information from this person. Try and see if you get him to leak anything." Morgana suggested as he hopped out of his bag and walk towards Ruby on her seat.

 _"Ah, you responded tonight. Once again, I am Alibaba. You are a member of the Phantom Thieves, correct?"_ Alibaba asked.

 _"I think 'Honorary' Phantom Thief is the right word."_ Ruby texted back.

"Subtle..." Blake commented.

 _"I see... I take it that your suppose leader received the calling card?"_ He mentioned as Ruby turned to Akira who nodded back.

"So it really was from this guy..." Morgana summed up.

 _"Did I happen to interrupt you from dinner?"_ Alibaba asked.

 _"No, me and my friends just finished some time ago."_ Ruby answered.

Alibaba: _"Hmm... I suppose 3 courses meals a day is healthy. Glad to hear you taking car of yourself."_

 _"Thank you."_ Ruby responded.

"Do you have to respond to every message?" Weiss asked disappointingly.

"What? I'm being considerate." Ruby denied.

 _"Anyways, now that I prepared a calling card to your group, when are you gonna steal it?"_ Alibaba asked.

"It?" Ruby muttered. _"Steal from who? I'm afraid your leaving way too much information out."_ she texted.

" _What do you mean by that? Aren't you guys able to steal a heart as long as you have a calling card?"_ Alibaba mentioned.

"Wait, this guy doesn't know how we operate, does he?" Ryuji assumed.

 _"I mean... we need a name of a target at least."_ Ruby texted. _"Again, we need to know who we're stealing it from and everything before we act. So do you have the name?"_

 _"? Is your thievery truly impossible without such information?"_ Alibaba asked.

 _"You thought we just stea_ _l_ _hearts by directly_ _ripping them out of someone? That's gross."_ Ruby texted.

 _"Noted..."_ Alibaba texted back, as some of her friends around her tried to hold their laughter. _"Hm... I suppose past calling cards did have names on them... One moment... Very well, I'll tell you. I believe her name was... Futaba Sakura."_

"We got a name... Wait, Sakura?" Ruby muttered.

"There was Mr. Sakura that works at Leblanc." Ann recalled.

"So he has a family?" Yang asked.

"I'm not sure myself..." Akira replied as he was confused as well.

"Dude, for reals!? How laid back are you!?" Ryuji exclaimed. "Wouldn't you normally be introduced at least? I mean, you ARE living at his place."

"I'm living at his restaurant, not his house, Ryuji." Akira retorted as Ryuji retracts his tension.

"Perhaps he thinks that the name alone is enough." Makoto assumes.

"But he only 'Knows' that it needs a name before we can do a think, but without a place and that... distortion thing..." Jaune added.

"Let me try something..." Ruby asked as she started to text to Alibaba. _"Okay..._ _but is there anything else that can help us? We still need more information."_

 _"What? I've given you guys a calling card and told you the target's name. You should be ready for this. I told you I'd help you if you stole her heart. I also said I'd report your identity to the police if you don't help me. I'm serious."_ He stated.

"Did he just threaten us?" Pyrrha said with conflict.

"What a selfish person." Yusuke commented.

"Well, he does have information on us..." Makoto agreed.

"Anyways, this Futaba he's talking about have a Palace? If so, we'll need keywords to get in." Ryuji mentioned.

"This 'Baba' doesn't know what we can do, does he?" Nora groaned.

 _"I'm serious too! But unless we know anymore about Futaba, we're only gonna hit a dead end. Does she have a Palace? What about her keywords?"_ Ruby texted her questions.

 _"Palace? Keywords? What are you talking about? Those have nothing to do with this conversation. Are you just saying something random to dodge the issue?"_ Alibaba questioned.

 _"No, it means that you clearly don't how we operate. And I'm just a rookie, a new recruit."_ Ruby replied pulling a fast one. _"I mean, why text some1 so lowly?"_

 _"Because foreign scrolls like yours is very outdated and are the most easiest to hack, my guess is that yours is modeled from Atleasian tech?"_ Alibaba asked.

"What!?" Weiss exclaimed in irritation as her friends tries to calm her down.

 _"Look, is it possible to actually meet? We could probably work this out if we do."_ Ruby asked.

 _"Meet... with me?" That would be difficult. I have reasons for not being able to go out... That's why I'm contacting you like this."_ Alibaba texted, yet that gave Ruby and everyone else concerns.

"He can't go out?" Morgana repeated.

 _"Are you really sure you guys don't steal hearts directly? ... I'm thinking..."_ Alibaba texted as they wait a bit until he texted again. _"OK. It's a shame, but I'm calling this deal off. Stop looking into Futaba Sakura. Forget this ever happened. I won't report you to the police either, don't worry."_

"H-He's calling it off!?" Jaune exclaimed.

 _"Sorry to take your time. Now if you'll excuse me..."_ Alibaba texted.

 _"What? Wait a second!"_ Ruby immediately responded.

 _"I said the deals off!"_ Alibaba texted with retort. _"We're never going to speak again. Don't expect me to contact you anymore either."_

 _"Wait! Why are you doing this?"_ Ruby texted, no avail due to her scroll unable to find the account to send the response, only getting back an error message. "He... hung up?" She said in confusion.

"This... doesn't make any sense... Not only he can't go out, but he won't us meet Futaba either?" Morgana summarized.

"Well, it's none of our business now. We can't contact him anymore." Ryuji supposed.

"For once I agree." Weiss agreed.

"And Medjed? We won't be able to get him to help us against them." Ren recalls.

"Could be a prank for all we know." Ryuji denied. "They made a huge declaration, but they ain't done a thing since. I bet we got 'em freaked out." He scoffed.

"You mean they backed out because they're afraid we'll change their hearts?" Morgana assumes.

"Yep. An now it'd just make 'em look lame if they came out and apologized! And with Alibaba and Medjed outta the picture, can we just say this case is closed?" Ryuji suggested.

"There is some holes in this matter, but..." Ren assumes.

"Eh, might as well, right?" Yang agreed.

"I guess it is safe for us to relax a little." Makoto agreed as well.

"Anyways, we had a great dinner and we don't hafta go to sleep! We can do what ever we want!" Nora cheered.

"As if we can go around a city where we hardly know a thing. And didn't Professor Narukami mentioned curfew?" Weiss mentioned as Nora groaned in response.

"We have at least a few days before we head to another town, too. Might as well make the most of it, right guys?" Ruby suggested.

"Ohh, right the beach! We all could go there too! It is summer vacation for us after all." Ryuji mentioned an idea.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Pyrrha agreed.

Soon enough they left the room as well.

* * *

Just the Beacon Students and the Phantom Thieves arrived, they stumbled upon Gaius having a word with Akechi. "... I still don't see why I should. It sounds to me like they're starting to threaten me and this guild." He said.

"Even I concur. Still any clues to the Phantom Thieves will be very essential to my case." Akechi insists as he places a card in his pocket.

"We have each other's business card, so we can holler if we know anything. No promises, though." Gaius assured as he, too, places a business card in his pocket.

"That is fine... Oh, Ruby-chan... and Niijima-san! What are you doing here?" Akechi exclaimed with surprise to them here.

"Akechi-kun..." Makoto muttered.

"Hey Akechi! We've been invited to eat dinner here!" Ruby waved to him.

"You had to see the sushi here!" Nora agreed.

"I can only imagine." Akechi chuckled.

"Akechi?" Ryuji grunted.

"You're the ones I saw from the TV station... Could it that you're all friends with each other?" Akechi asked.

"Yeah, these guys from Shujin are guiding us around!" Ruby answered.

"Huh!?" Akechi gasped. "Oh, uh... I see..." He stuttered which made the others curious.

"Do you know this guy?" Yusuke asked.

"Goro Akechi. A young detective, a second famous detective aside from Shirogane." Gaius introduce the Fanus Detective.

"It's nice to meet you. Glad to make your acquaintance, Yusuke Kitaguwa." Akecki greeted, much to Yusuke's surprise.

"How do you know my name?" Yusuke questioned.

"Well, because I'm a psychic, of course." Akechi answered with a small laughter. "Haha. I'm only joking. You're a former pupil of Madarame, right?" He asked with Yusuke nodding in response.

"So what's brings you here Akechi?" Blake asked.

"I've just recently been joined in an investigation team looking into the Phantom Thieves." Akechi answered with the students sweat-dropping until... "Did you see that Medjed has declared war on them?" He mentioned.

"War? What war?" Jaune asked.

"Their website was updated a couple hours ago." He added.

"For real!?" Ryuji exclaimed as he and Ann took their cell scrolls out. "English again...?" He grunted.

"What does it say?" Yang ask as she and Weiss peeked on their screens.

"Wait, what...!?" Ann and Weiss exclaimed simultaneously.

Hm...? Why do you seem agitated?" Akechi asked.

Ann stuttered as Weiss scoffed. "It's what this Medjed group is saying on their site."

"Yes... it is disappointing." Akechi agrees. "My apologies. I didn't mean to butt into your conversation. Still, this is an interesting group. Prosecutor Niijima's sister, an ex-pupil of Madarame, a few Shujin Academy, and two Teams of Huntsmen of Beacon Academy..." He accounted everyone here, excluding Gaius. "It seem you're all connected to the Phantom Thieves. Perhaps you guys have better intel than I do...?" He wonders as the students sweat-dropped once more. "Ah, yes, I want to you something, Akira. Regarding the whole Medjed commotion... If you were one of the Phantom Thieves, what would you do?" He asks.

"Well... I'd ignore them. They aren't really harming anyone, are they?" Akira answers.

"I mean, isn't that whole Medjed thing a prank or something?" Weiss agrees.

"That is unexpected... Only a small minority of people believe that is the best decision." Akeck speculates.

"Sorry to disappoint, but we're just normal high school kids, being tour guides for other students." Ryuji scoffed. "If anything, we wanna hear what you gotta say, Mr. Detective." He retorts.

"For starters... my profiling of the Phantom Thieves has led me to believe they are a group of juveniles. They have a relative amount of time after school, and a hideout to slip away to. Furthermore, considering Kamoshida was their first target, it seems they began activity around April. In a way, all I've said about the Phantom Thieves coincides with the group you have here." He deduced.

"What you gonna report us?" Ryuji growled.

"I didn't say I was being suspicious of you." Akechi reassured as he turned to Ruby. "Then again, Ruby-chan can I ask you a question regarding the similar question to them?"

"Huh? Sure ask away." Ruby accepts.

"What are your thoughts of the Phantom Thieves, in a Huntress's perspective?" Akechi asks.

"Um... well... could it be that..." The Phantom Thieves were building anxiety for Ruby's response. "That being students is some sort of... decoy?" She said.

Everyone in the lobby: "HUH!?"

"That's... *Chuckle* I certainly did not see that coming. Do pray continue." Akechi asked.

"Uh... yeah, think about it! Maybe these thieves happened to be in the city where they saw that Kamoshida making student suffer... and that they took it upon themselves to make him confess? They could be foreigners, maybe even Huntsmen with some sort of 'Mind Control' semblance!" Ruby suggested.

"And who would believe that!?" Weiss questioned with a dumbfound expression.

Akechi laughed out loud from the idea. "You certainly have clear, open mind, Ruby-chan. I can see why you're a prodigy; you are a Team Leader, you even can understand Japanese very well.

"Huh? What do you mean? Weren't we speaking English just now?" Ruby recalled.

"Hm... that's odd, just before our little conversation just now, you understood what I said. Perhaps you had a lesson with one of our language teachers?" Akechi assumes.

"I guess..." Ruby assumes as well.

"Regardless... you guys always find a way to rise above my expectations. You both are intriguing ones, one with calm mannerism and the other with an open mind. You think my deductions are interesting, too?" The Faunus Detective commented as he looks to Akira and Ruby.

"Yeah, you probably might make a good teammate... If you were a Huntsman." Ruby agreed.

"What!? The hell're you sayin'!?" Ryuji exclaimed.

"I'm curious to hear what you all have to say. You guys seem to be a wealth of information." Akechi chuckled.

"Good to know! I read books after all!" Ruby chuckled with confidence.

"Says the team leader who has more detention records." Blake sighed.

"Whatata... What are you saying, Blake!" Ruby stuttered.

"I trust you still have more to say to me, privately than speaking in the open?" Gaius stated, drawing the students attention.

"Ah, yes, well, this has been a valuable reference for me. I hope we meet again." Akechi bowed as he left with Gaius into one of the rooms.

"That was... close..." Blake sighed.

"What was that about...?" Ann wondered.

"Do you think he's ascertained our true identities?" Yusuke ponders.

"Nah, couldn't be... right?" Ryuji assumes.

"I'd like to say that it's simply us overthinking this, but... it may be best to be cautious from now on. We shouldn't forget that Alibaba was able to discover who we are." Makoto suggested.

"Not to mention that he doesn't have tangible evidence to prove that discovery as well." Blake added.

"We are so playing a dangerous game here..." Weiss sighed in defeat.

"More importantly, things are getting serious with Medjed." Ann mentioned.

"Oh right, what does it say?" Jaune asked.

"Let me read it..." Ann said as she pulled up the website. "'We are disappointed in the people of Japan and their belief in the Phantom Thieves' false justice. Hence, we shall proceed with our plan to cleanse Japan. This Process will commence on August 10th. As a result, the Japanese economy shall suffer devastating damages.'" Ann stated.

"For real...?" Ryuji muttered.

"The 10th...? But that's like... five days from now...!" Ruby counted with her fingers while Ann continued.

"'However, we are magnanimous. We will give the Phantom Thieves one final opportunity to repent. As proof of this repentance, we demand that they reveal their identities to the public. We will attack if these demands remain unmet. The future of Japan rests with the Phantom Thieves.'

'We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.'" Ann stated.

"This Kingdom's economy will crash? Sounds bad..." Nora commented.

"In other words, if we don't unmask ourselves, Medjed will attack Japan... correct?" Yusuke concluded.

"They're quite the attention seekers, even when they're taking on a small bunch of students." Weiss scoffed in agreement.

"But are we going to do about this. Either the Kingdom is in trouble or we are..." Ruby said with concern.

"If we could get in contact with Alibaba, he could likely hack them in order to prevent such a crisis..." Ren suggested.

"Only if we do get in contact." Makoto sighed in reminder.

"Our only clues are boss and Futaba." Ryuji included. "Anywasy, it's getting dark by the minute, why don't hang around Leblanc? We can talk more over there." He suggested.

"Is that restaurant the only place you guys ever think of." Weiss questioned as they all went there anyways.

* * *

8/05 **Cafe Lablanc** Evening

As they entered the restaurant, they see Sojiro confronting a lady in a suit. "I take it that you read the letter, did you not?" She asked.

"... So you're the one who tipped them off about Futaba." Sojiro grunted. "You really shouldn't have done that. I have no intention of talking to you about Wakaba."

"Tipped off...? What are you talking about?" The lady asks, but returns to the subject. "Back to the matter at hand... Your parental authority will have to be suspended. I take it you're okay with that outcome?" She questioned.

Sojiro: "What!?"

"Considering the state of your daughter and your family overall, there are no points in your favor. Would you like to take this to domestic court? Our chances of victory are roughly 99.9% though." She suggested. "With these suspicious of abuse... there's no way you could avoid having your custody revoked."

"You're going that far!? I told you, I don't know a damn thing about it!" Sojiro exclaimed.

"We're extremely serious about this. As long as there's a possibly that cognitive psience can linked to psychotic breakdowns..." The lady stated.

"Sis...!?" Makoto blurted out as she turns to see a familiar face.

"Makoto? What are you doing here?" Makoto's sister asked.

"Uh... um... I'm helping my classmates study and we thought we'd use this restaurant to study here." Makoto staggered. "Guys, this is my older sister, Sae."

"Your sister!?" The Student Huntsmen exclaimed.

"And a prosecutor to boot." Ryuji added.

"A pleasure. Anyway, I'm in a middle of something." Sae recalled as she turns to Sojiro with a glare.

"... fine... I yield." Sojiro grunted.

"Thank you. I will expect you at the station at a later time." Sae said.

"I doubt you'll find anything you want to hear though." Sojiro scoffed.

"That's fine. It will be up to us to decide whether the information you give is useful or not. Next time i come here, it will be just for a cup of coffee." Sae reassured as she walk to the exit with a students moving out of the way. "Make sure you don't stay up too late, alright Makoto?" She said to her younger sister.

"Okay..." Makoto agreed as Sae left on her way.

"And stay out!" Sojiro yelled angrily as he turns to the students. "Err... sorry you had to see that."

"I am soo sorry about my sister. She was only doing her job." Makoto apologized.

"She certainly can piss people off." Sojiro sighed heavily.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Sakura? What was that?" Ruby asked.

"... That doesn't involve you, kids." Sojiro denied her question.

"Is Futaba your daughter?" Akira asked.

"That's enough! You all need to learn to keep out of others' business or you'll end up like him." Sojiro exclaimed as he pointed and turns to Akira. "Just behave yourselves and keep going to school if you don't want me to throw you out of here." He declared as he sighed afterwards. "Lock up the store. I have something that I need to do." He said as he washed up and headed out.

"Well... the existence of Futaba is clearly for certain." Weiss mentioned.

"She may be in a bad situation though..." Blake agreed.

"And the the conjecture that Alibaba really is connected to Leblanc, a pretty solid foundation." Morgana followed up. "And didn't they mention 'cognitive' something?"

"'Cognitive... science?' Whatever that is..." Jaune muttered as he scratched his head.

"What ever the case is... to summarized what we just saw, Futaba is boss's daughter and he's abusing her?" Makoto assumes.

"Er... we don't exactly know him very well, either. Is he really the kind of person who would do that?" Jaune asked.

"He's strict, but I don't think he would go that far..." Akira said otherwise.

"We would like to believe so as well, but we don't have any conclusive evidence, do we?" Blake assumes.

"The question is... how are we gonna get in touch with him?" Ann wonders.

"He just cut off all contact after that misunderstanding. Then again, if we manage to steal Futaba's heart, he may attempt to reach out to us once more." Yusuke suggested.

"But we don't have any clues on what her keywords are." Morgana reminded.

"Geez, that Alibaba is literally making us go a wild goose chase, where exactly is that guy anyways!?" Yang grunted in frustration.

A moment of silence and then Makoto thought of an idea. "Actually, I think he may be closer than we think... Hypothetically speaking, even if we stole Futaba's heart, how would Alibaba know that the deed's been done? Would he truly be able to discern that just from a cell scroll message?"

"Hmm... that's right... That part was hinted after he contacted Ruby just now. Wouldn't he have to meet Futaba in person?" Weiss realized.

"Alibaba was able to deliver the calling card here. On top of that, he can check on Futaba's condition. However, according to the circumstances he put forth, he is unable to meet with us. This leads me to believe that it would be bad for him if we were to see the two of them together." Makoto theorized.

"Could that mean... Alibaba is actually Futaba herself?" Ruby guessed.

"Wait, really!?" Nora exclaimed.

"For real!?" Ryuji staggered.

"So she's asking us to steal her heart? Is it that she want's us to save her fro the scars of abuse? That could be hard to ask anyone directly." Blake assumes.

"Hmm... say, why don't we check Mr. Sakura's house? If we're lucky, we could probably catch either of them." Ruby suggested.

"Sure. I know where his house is." Akira agreed. "Just... please, don't ask anything that would throw me out..."

"Yeah, we'll only say that the leftover sushi's a take-out gift for him." Jaune agreed as well.

"B-But my fatty tuna!" Morgana meowed loudly.

"No complaining!" Ann denied.

"Alright, let's go!" Ruby declared as Akira led the way.

* * *

8/05 **Sakura Residence** Evening

A few minutes later, they arrived at Sojiro's house. The Student Huntsmen just realized how close his house was from Cafe Leblanc. "I thought he'd be home by now. He left before us..." Akira wondered while Nora constantly kept pressing the doorbell, that is until Ren stopped her, due to the the annoying ringing.

"Really? I mean the lights are on, too." Blake pointed to the light in the 2nd floor of the house.

"Think he's nappin'?" Ryuji guessed.

"Even boss would've woken up with how many times Nora-chan rung the doorbell." Ann said as they see Nora trying to ring the doorbell as their glares tells her not to do it again.

"I would think Futaba would've answered by now she were here too..." Pyrrha agrees as well.

"Ah, the gate is unlocked." Yusuke mentioned as he opened the front gate.

"Dude, you can't go openin' other people's stuff like that." Ryuji sweat-dropped.

"But look, the door seems to be slightly open as well. That seems careless..." Blake pointed at the front door until her cat ears under her bow started to fidget from hearing a thunder clouds above their heads.

"Whoa, sounds like it's gonna rain... we should go inside!" Morgana alerted.

"Wait, are you sure think that's okay!?" Weiss questioned.

"Prolly...?" Ryuji assumes as he went in anyways along with the others.

My apologies, boss." Makoto muttered as Weiss sighed with a facepalm, following them afterwards.

* * *

When inside, they only saw darkness through the hallway with a flickering light at the end. "Hello? Mr. Sakura?" Ruby hollered with no response.

"He's not out, is he? The door ahead is open and I can hear the TV." Makoto wondered.

"I hop he didn't pass out or something... I mean, boss is kinda old, ain't he?" Ryuji wonders as well.

"Should we check on him?" Pyrrha asked.

And so they walked further in until a power outage occurred from a lightning strike. Just as they were surprised, a scream rang out which cause some of them to jump.

"Whoa! What the!?" Jaune staggered.

"A scream! What was that!?" Makoto questioned.

"H-How should I know?" Weiss questioned back.

As they looked around in the darkness, Blake heard unknown stepping noises. "Hey, I hear something... walking around..."

"C-Can't we just leave!? We're already intruding!" Weiss stuttered in demand as she, Ann, and Jaune were shaking in horror.

"What're you guys freaking out for?" Ryuji questioned.

"W-We're not freaking out!" Ann exclaimed.

"Then why are you holding on to my arm?" Yang questioned.

"I'm not! I think Jaune is!" Ann retorted.

"Could it be Alibaba? I mean, Futaba?" Morgana assumes.

They eventually suggested to leave the house as a scared Makoto holds on to Akira's arm as they walked towards the front door.

A sudden creek rung as it shook Makoto. "Someone's... here..." Said Ruby as she observed her surroundings.

"Who is it... who's there!? I can't take this anymore, I'm leaving!" Makoto staggered as her legs began to collapse. "M-My legs...! They won't move!" She muttered in fear.

"Here, let me help-" Ruby offered but she and Makoto slowly turned their back to a humanoid figure with its eyes reflecting light.

"Are you... Futaba?" Blake asked the figure as a lightning bolt immediately flashed afterwards, Causing tension to break.

Makoto: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Futaba?: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ruby: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Nora: "WHY ARE WE YELLING ABOUT!"

Jaune: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"Ow... Why the hell is everyone screaming!?" Morgana hissed.

* * *

 **A/N: Ending it in a high note. The episode ended just like it did in the anime, you know? I have say, it was funny as hell to see them screaming the anime.**

 **Had to make some changes in the original dialogue in order for the characters outside P5 will have their place in this story. Not bad, if I say so myself.**

 **As for the Lore implementation... I confess that the lore I'm referring is that from another game... from the EXA_Pico series... How the Deities are similar to those Genoms and such. but that's a different story that I'll divulge later.**

 **I wish you guys a Merry Christmas, sorry I couldn't finish this soon. Had to balance this and work. You all know how Holidays are.**

 **I hear that Joker is making his into Smash, unfortunately I do not have a switch. I have a PS4 with the P5 game, so I can't say I'm sad.**

 **You guys still remember the poll I made, it's still up until the end of the Futaba arc.**

 **I also hear about the**

 **Anyways... here is some Omake skits!**

* * *

King's Spin the Bottle!

Some of the guys and girls are playing a game of spin the bottle. "I swear, this is so childish." Weiss shook her head.

Naoto: "Unfortunately..."

"Hush!" Nora grunted as she laid the bottle down as Kanji spun the bottle around. The bottle was spinning fast and decreased its speed as the anticipation of the bottle was intense as Rise and Weiss gasps as the bottle was about to point at them but they exhaled with relief as the botle passed over them and subsequently pointed at... Teddie.

"Oh... Shit..." Kanji muttered with despair as they all turned to Teddie.

"Oh my, Kanji. No matter what game we play, it we cannot change our fate." Teddie declared.

"B-Bullshit! I ain't doing that shit again!" Kanji exclaimed.

"Do not deny our fate, Kanji. Now bear it and Smmmmmoooooch!" Teddie stated as he jumped onto Kanji in an attempt to kiss.

"H-Hey, NO! Get off of me! NOOOooooooo!" Kanji yelled.

"That... happened before?" Ren wondered.

"I hate to be him... Alright, my turn!" Jaune declared as the others got the feeling that his fate is going to end up the same as Kanji's.

* * *

Preview: Ruby and the Grimm Cinemas

 ***Road Less Taken**

Trumpet rung out as the images quickly slides between the Student Huntsmen; Ruby sitting down at a subway bench, Weiss posing with her Myrtenaster, Blake flipping a page in her book, Yang punching the air, Jaune and Pyrrha sparring with their weapon, and Ren making Pancakes as Nora eats them, and at the end of that segment show Ruby acting like a delinquent, spraying the screen red.

The next segment view various and outstanding areas that are like scenes from a movie as the screen show Ruby in her school uniform in different angles, walk on a sidewalk, with the lyrics starting the stoplight turning green as Ruby starts to lip sync.

You movie, your storyline, all decided  
Before the curtain rises.

The screen show Ruby's front walking forward as she lip sync the lyrics as the screen displays a graffiti with her teammates and Team JNPR on the wall.

How does it feel,  
To be entwined to a fate so certain?

The screen goes back to Ruby on her side, still lip-syncing as her school uniform changes to her Phantom Thief outfit by passing the pillars as she gains a running pace and wielding Crescent Rose.

How can change you change a thing if your life _(Your life)_  
Has been written into stone _(OoooooOOOhhhh!)_

The segment displays a TV screen showing the members of S.E.E.S. and then the Investigation Team.

Your life's written into plotlines

The screen now displays the Phantom Thieves in their way as Ruby runs with leaving rose petals behind.

By another~! Can you make it your own?

Pyrrha and Nora, followed by the girls of Team RWBY flickers in the lyrics followed by screen showing Ruby at the subway bench as the screen zooms to her silver eyes.

Watcha gon' do? Watcha gon' do? Your life planned out, written by someone you!

The screen now shows Jaune dressed up as the HuntsMan rapping as the screen shows more screens of HuntsMan rapping with one of the screens with Ren rapping as well.

Watcha gon' do? Watcha gon' do? Would you stand up and fight, fool?"

Minato uses his Evoker, Yu crushes his Tarot card, Akira rips his mask, and then Ruby points her Crescent Rose pointblank at the screen as it changes to the next segment.

You are looking without seeing  
It's not like you're blind,

Minato (as Maestro) summons Orpheus at his side and casts a fire skill, then Izanagi appears and use a lightning skill with showing Yu (as Raiden) close up to his eye.

The Phantom had it clear, yeah.

The camera fly over Akira (as Joker) as he use his hand to cover the screen as it blurs to reveal his Persona Arsene who casts a curse skill as Ruby (as Rouge) jump over his Persona and had her Persona, Soma, parried away.

From what you could find,  
Just hiding in plain sight;

Vivid images appeared of an unknown yet familiar girl around our heroes' age, then Nagi's face shows on screen with a red liquid splatter with cinema seats in the background.

You're already always free~!"

Hikari opens her despaired eyes with a rolling camera in from of her, and a pair of hands clench together a light into its hands.

Now you're looking and you're seeing.  
Your every choice is fine, No doubting it, free now.

This segment begins with eyes opening up withe the camera spinning around Ruby and Hikari, back to back, who're both looking around of what's going on with all these eyes looking down on them followed by the pair falling from the sky as Ruby extend her hand to Hikari in and blurs away with rose petals covering the screen.

And the Storyline  
Is yours for the making!

As the Petals scatters, revealing only Hikari floating in front of the screen, followed by Akira, Yu, Minato, and Ruby immediately appears with their eyes close next to the screen in that order with Ruby opening her eyes with a brave expression as her eyes flash into the next segment.

The road less taken!  
Could be where we're meant to be!

The screen finally shows a city with different areas and angles followed by Ruby (as Rouge) running across the balconies above and then take plunge to the ground floor as she slices the screen with her weapon as the screen displays the title "Persona RWBY" followed a subtitle, "Ruby and the Grimm Cinemas" with the background flickering random colors followed by a piano solo with a sun rising from a big city, then shining above a town, and setting by a city near the ocean as the screen shows every characters with the camera going through in between then as the characters move away which then shows Ruby turning around and offering her hand to a certain camera girl.

As the piano solo ends with rose petals flying away with a blue butterfly flying in a background and then shows Ruby holding a camera as she stand up and walks off screen.

* * *

 **A/N: Not bad an opening, yeah? I do have my intention to make a Persona Q story, but I'm torn between the first game and it's sequel. I now considering to do the sequel because it reminded me of a certain Chibi skit from RWBY Chibi. I just realized that. A continuation after Mid-Summer Chronicles with changes, and yes, I will include the P3P Heroine.**

 **"Pull The Trigger" I'd say that battle them goes good with Ruby, but that's my thoughts.**

 **What do you guys think of this fanfic idea? Of course, see that it takes after Mid-Summer Chronicles and before RWBY Vol. 3, so this fanfic may not happen yet.**

 **Anyways, c you around next year! Hppay Holidays! Read and Review!**

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there - Shoji Meguro** **  
**

 ***Tokyo Daylight - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Road Less Taken - Shoji Meguro**


	10. The Days When My Mother Was There

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **The Days When My Mother Was There**

No Date Confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Daytime

In the Interrogation Room, Gaius stared at Ruby, baffled by what he's hearing. "I... don't understand. Your group broke into the Sakura Residence?" He asked.

"I-It's not what it looks like!" Ruby exclaimed. "We really thought he was in trouble! I mean Mr. Sakura looked like he was around that age!"

"... I suppose so..." Gaius sighed. "So then, do you remember what he said about?"

"... Some thing tragic..." Ruby muttered in shame.

"Do you want to say?" The Black Fang leader asked.

"... Hmm... I think it went like this..." Ruby said as she continues her recollection.

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

8/05 **Sakura Residence** Evening

"Are you... Futaba?" Blake asked the figure as a lightning bolt immediately flashed afterwards, Causing tension to break.

Makoto: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Futaba?: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ruby: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Nora: "WHY ARE WE YELLING ABOUT!"

Jaune: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"Ow... Why the hell is everyone screaming!?" Morgana hissed.

As the screams goes on, the shadowy figure who is possibly Futaba bolted away.

"F-Futaba...!?" Ruby staggered.

"Alibaba! Hey! C'mon, where are you!" Ann questioned.

"I think she ran away...!" Yusuke mentioned as he saw Futaba scrambled.

"Y-You're a hacker, right? Just show yourself!" Weiss demanded as she took cover behind Yang.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry! PleasesavemeSis...!" Makoto cried as she clenched onto Akira's leg.

But as the group were trying to grasp the situation, it just so happened to get worse. "Are you okay, Futaba!?" Sojiro exclaimed from outside the front door.

"Oh crap, he's home! We need to cheese it!" Nora staggered with a whisper.

"But where can we go? It's cramped over here!" Ren whispered back as Ryuji and Yusuke pushed them and the other into a corner to hide.

Akira and Ruby were trying to follow but Makoto was too terrified to move, holding Akira's leg in place and eventually, Sojiro slid the door wide open to find a few silhouettes before him. "Who the hell are you!? Don't move! You hear me!?" He yelled as he pulled out his cell scroll to use its flashlight app, revealing Ruby trying to pull the terrified Makoto off of Akira. "You... you three? What are you guys doing in my house?" He questioned.

"Oh... G-Good... evening, sir... We didn't mean... to intrude..." Makoto stuttered as she realized who was talking to her.

"Uh... we can explain..." Ruby stuttered.

"Niijima-san? Wait, Akira... is this what you meant by... wanting the ladies to like you?" Sojjiro asked.

"Uh... what?" Ruby said with confusion.

"What? No! W-We're just friends!" Makoto denied.

"Friends nowadays get that close to each other...?" Sojiro asked again, as the three realized they were still holding on to each other.

"That's not it! This, um... Things happened... and..." Makoto staggered as she stood back up.

"Err... okay, I don't think we're not gonna fool him. Guys the jig is up." Ruby hollered as the others exited their cover.

"You kids are here too!?" Sojiro exclaimed.

"We came to apologize for our behavior with some sushi. We thought you'd be home when you left Leblanc." Akira explained.

"Um... we did rang the bell, and the door was unlocked too..." Ann added.

"Not to mention you TV was on. Did you forget to turn it off?" Weiss asked.

"Wait, the door was unlocked?" Sojiro recalled as they nodded. "... I guess I do that sometimes. Guess I'm getting old." He sighed, scratching his neck.

"Um, excuse. There's something we'd like to ask." Ruby mentioned catching his attention. "There's someone else living here right?"

"Yeah... my daughter." Sojiro answered.

"Is there any way we could meet with your daughter?" Makoto asked. "I think we may have frightened her earlier, so we'd like to apologize if at all possible."

"Well... that's complicated..." Sojiro sighed.

"Is she sick?" Yang asked.

"No, it's not like that." He sighed heavily upon the students' sights on him. "I don't want you all getting the wrong idea... I shouldn't have kept this a secret from you." Sojiro said to Akira. "Let's talk at my shop. She'll hear us us we stay here." He suggested.

* * *

8/05 **Cafe Leblanc** Evening

 ***Alleycat**

At the restaurant, the student huddled around to hear Sojiro's story. "Now, were do I start...?" He wondered as he starts to tell his history. "Futaba's mother and I knew each other long before Futaba was born. Her mother was a bit of a weird one, but we got along for some reason... She was sharp-witted, somewhat stern, a little socially inept, but always carefree..." He said with a gentle sigh. "She truly was a great woman.

"I see..." Ruby agreed.

"When something piqued her interest, that'd be all she focused on. She always worked deep into the night. I thought that'd changed after her kid was born, but having Futaba didn't do much. Even with that, she always took care of her.

"Working and watching over a child at the same time sounds rough." Blake commented.

"No kidding..." Yang agree in a sad tone.

"I guess raising Futaba alone turned out to be tough on her in more ways in one..." Sojiro sighed.

"Alone? What about her father?" Pyrrha wondered.

"There wasn't a father... well, there probably was one. I didn't know him though. She never said a word about him either." Sojiro answered with a scoff. "She was single when she gave birth to Futaba, and single when she raised her. They were an ordinary, loving family. You can tell she cared for Futaba, but one day, she left... leaving Futaba behind."

"She left?" Ren asked.

"She... committed suicide." Sojiro stated with the students in the room opening their eyes wide and gasping.

"Suicide...!?" Weiss exclaimed.

"Threw herself into the street, right in Futaba's eyes." Sojiro added.

"Shocking doesn't even to describe that..." Makoto said in surprise.

"I... no way..." Ruby stuttered as she covered her mouth.

"That's gotta be devastating for a kid..." Jaune said.

"For reals." Ryuji agreed.

"So... well, a lot happened after that, but I ended up taking custody of Futaba... First, she was so depressed she... she wouldn't even talk to me.

"Was that because she couldn't get over her mother's suicide...?" Ann asked.

"I kept talking to her though, and she started opening up to me little by little. That's when I found out... Futaba blames herself for her mother's death." Sojiro mentioned.

"But... why?" Ruby questioned.

"That part she's never told me. I wanted to know what led her to believing that, but I decided not to rub salt in the wound." He sighed and then gave a stern look. "Then, a few months ago, she started getting real scard, even when nothing was happening. She'd say things like, 'I hear voices...' and 'Mom is looking at me...'"

"Visual and auditory hallucinations..." Yusuke answered.

"Have you taken Futaba to a doctor?" Blake asked.

"I wanted to, but she refused. Even when I had a doctor come, she locked herself away in her room. Since then, she's become what you'd call a shut-in. She won't take a single step outside the house, or even try to see other people. She doesn't even let me come in her room."

"That's harsh..." Nora sympathized.

"Futaba is, well, a unique girl. She's so quick-minded that conversations with her tend to jump from one topic to the next. It seems like she's always coming to conclusions in her head. There's a lot I don't know about her, so yeah... her situation is why I couldn't let Akira into my house." Sojiro looked at him.

"I think I understand that, don't worry about it." Akira nodded.

"What Futaba needs is a safe place where nobody will threaten her. Somewhere she can be at ease. That's why I won't do anything she doesn't want. I don't make her do anything she's unwilling to either. Then again, I know that's no way for her to live. It's all I can do though..." Sojiro sighed.

"But... is that what you desire?" Akira asked.

"What I desire, huh? I know it's cliche, but more than anything I want Futaba to be happy like a normal person." Sojiro hoped. "Well, that's that. So can you just leave her be?" He asked as Akira nodded. "I'm gonna head back then. You all better head home, too." He suggested as he left the shop.

After he left, the group hung around and felt ashamed for hearing Futaba's story. "I feel awful for prying into his personal affairs..." Makoto said to them.

"No way in hell he's abusing her." Ryuji agreed.

"To lose someone you love... to think watching someone you love commit suicide in front of her..." Ren contemplated.

"I didn't mean to scare her like that..." Ruby rubbed her eyes.

"So the reason why Futaba wants her heart stolen must be related to what happened to her mother." Weiss assumed.

"So she'd like to discard her feelings of pain, but can't do anything about it herself." Pyrrha added.

"But... will changing her heart really help her though?" Blake wondered, crossing her arms.

"If we can help her, we may be able to stand up to Medjed." Yusuke pointed out.

"It's possible, but we do need clues." Akira agreed.

"Hold on a second, does she even has a palace? Think we can check?" Jaune suggested.

"Sure, we could try." Akira agreed as he pulled out his cell scroll. "'The Futaba that lives at Sojiro Sakura's house.'" Akira said out loud as he inputted what he said and...

 _"Candidate found."_ The MetaNav stated, much to their surprise from the blurred distortion immediately after.

"Whoa, what the...?" Nora staggered.

"She's... got one!?" Pyrrha exclaimed.

"So someone can have a Palace even if they're not evil?" Ann assumed.

"That's... hey, Morgana? ... Morgana?" Ruby called out to the cat, but was missing around the group. "Where's Morgana?" She asked.

"I haven't seen him for some time." Blake mentioned. "I think ever since we went inside Mr. Sojiro's house?"

"Somewhere 'round there. He'll be fine though, he's a cat, after all." Ryuji assured as he stood up. "Whelp, the trains're gonna be shutting down for the night soon, so we should prolly be heading headin' home."

"We have to go to school in the morning, after all." Makoto mentioned.

"Oh yeah, tomorrow's your guy's vacation off, too. But don't you guys have a urgent assembly?" Weiss recalled.

"Don't remind us..." Ann sighed.

"An assembly? What about?" Questioned Yusuke.

"Shujin has been garnering a lot of attention ever since Medjed called out the Phantom Thieves. So they need to remind us not say arbitrary stuff online and add more to the fire." Ann explained.

"Well that sounds pointless. It's like you guys gotta meet up for every little thing." Yang assumed.

"You have no friggin' idea. It's a pain in the ass..." Ryuji grunted.

"I mean, it is your guys' fault." Weiss pointed out.

"Anyways, seeing how we don't need to attend the assembly, my group will wait around Leblanc for you guys." Ruby suggested. "Although, we might need to find a way to make an excuse to distract the other Student Huntsmen too..."

"I'll ask Mishima to serve as their guide to several touring place around the city. That way, they won't need to know what we're doing." Makoto suggested as they agreed.

* * *

8/05 **Sakura Residence** Evening

At the same time of their conversation, a Cat Faunus, Futaba Sakura, was listening in on the conversation at Cafe Leblanc. _"... No way in hell he's abusing her."_ Ryuji said.

 _"To lose someone you love... to think watching someone you love commit suicide in front of her..."_ Ren contemplated.

 _"I didn't mean to scare her like that..."_ Ruby said.

 _"So the reason why Futaba wants her heart stolen must be related to what happened to her mother."_ Weiss assumed.

 _"So she'd like to discard her feelings of pain, but can't do anything about it herself."_ Pyrrha added.

 _"But... will changing her heart really help her though?"_ Blake wondered.

 _"If we can help her, we may be able to stand up to Medjed."_ Yusuke pointed out.

 _"It's possible, but we do need clues."_ Akira agreed.

 _"Hold on a second, does she even has a palace? Think we can check?"_ Jaune suggested.

 _"Sure, we could try."_ Akira agreed. _"'The Futaba that lives at Sojiro Sakura's house.'"_ Akira said out loud.

 _"Whoa, what the...?"_ Nora staggered.

 _"She's... got one!?"_ Pyrrha exclaimed.

 _"So someone can have a Palace even if they're not evil?"_ Ann assumed.

 _"That's... hey, Morgana? ... Morgana? Where's Morgana?"_ Ruby asked.

But just as Futaba was about to hear more details, she felt something move between her feet as she flinched from a cat running away.

* * *

8/05 **Granbell Hotel** Evening

As they entered the lobby of the hotel they're staying at, they see the members of Team NYCA and Kanji and Teddie heading toward the opposite direct of the Student Huntsmen. "Ruby-chan?" Yu saw her group coming in. "I thought you guys would be in your rooms by now."

"Oh! Uh... we... took a wrong turn and wound up near Leblanc! Yeah!" Ruby stated as she made an excuse, as Yu and his friends took the hint.

"Gotcha, anyways we're heading out early so we'll catch you guys in Inaba." Yosuke winked.

"Yeah, best of luck on whatever you guys are doing." Chie stated.

"Until we meet again. I'll make sure to leave a reservation for your rooms." Yukiko bowed farewell.

"I will miss you, Young Sensei!" Teddie whimpered.

"Quit complanin' it ain't like we're gonna disappear anytime soon." Kanji retorted as he and Teddie left first.

"Alright! See ya!" Ruby waved back as the Investigation Team left the building. "Right, now let's get back to our rooms before Professor Narukami finds out we're not back yet." She suggested as they returned to their rooms.

But just as they got out of the elevator, Ruby's scroll rung as it revealed to be Yu. _"By the way, Akira texted me just now, he wanted to tell you something so can you text him your number? It seemed he found something."_ Yu texted.

"Akira was trying to call me?" Ruby repeated.

"We didn't exactly gave each other our numbers haven't we?" Weiss wondered.

"I don't think so, we only got some contact from Yu and Yosuke." Blake shook her head.

"I guess I'll give him my number." Ruby suggested as she relayed her number.

Soon enough, Akira got a hold on to Ruby's scroll and send his message to her. _"I just gotten a word from Morgana. He was looking into Sojiro's house and found out Futaba was listening in on our conversation in Leblanc."_ Akira texted.

"So that's where Morgana was... wait, Futaba was listening in!?" Weiss questioned.

 _"Morgana also said she looked around our age, long hair, has a young sounding voice, and a pair cat ears. For her age that young, and she's no amateur, either."_ Akira texted.

"So... she's tech geek or something?" Yang assumed.

"And... Cat ears? Is Futaba a Faunus?" Blake added.

"She was able to listen to our conversation and hack into my scroll." Ruby mentioned with a good impression. "She's good."

"Let's meet up with them tomorrow. If we're lucky, we should be able to help her before we leave the city." Weiss advise as they agreed.

* * *

No Date Confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Daytime

Ruby summarized her memories thus far as Gaius listen with intrigue. "... In other words... Futaba had a palace. Just like you had." She explained.

"Yet my palace was created by the help of a friend. So... a young lady with trauma infliction..." Gaius muttered. "Despite that, the Phantom Thieves targeted her in order to help coop with her peace and to retaliate against Medjed. Not to mention that your story falls in line with the police's investigation."

"It's also because I wanted to help her. Knowing that she no longer has a mom, it's because I can relate with her, Yang too." Ruby stated with a sad expression.

"I understand. Back then, they had yet to determine how they Phantom Thieves dealt with Medjed, seeing how they were unseen. But after they helped changed her heart, she stopped Medjed before they caused any damages. Can you continue your story?" Gaius asked as Ruby agreed, continuing her story.

* * *

8/06 **Cafe Leblanc** Daytime

Once their assembly was out of the way, the Phantom Thieves regrouped with the Beacon Students waiting at Leblanc. "Man, that assembly had me bored to tears." Ryuji groaned.

"Huh? Yusuke, did you have school too?" Nora asked.

"I'm doing laundry, so these are the only clothes I had had to wear." Yusuke replied.

"You really should buy a couple more outfits..." Ann suggested.

"Come now, we didn't gather here to make small talk, now did we?" Makoto reminded. "Let's get back to Alibaba's case."

"Well then, I'll start." Morgana declared. "It looks like Futaba was listening in on Leblanc." He explained.

"Why would she want to listen in on the cafe for?" Jaune questioned.

"Could it be because that she wanted to check up on Mr. Sakura? He is family to her." Ren assumed.

"I have no idea." Morgana shook his head.

"Just like the boss said, she's a tough nut to crack." Yang commented.

"But her hacking skill will be absolutely necessary if we're to stand up against Medjed. We might be able to identify who the enemy is." Weiss included.

"We'll have to trust her on this. Still, the fact that Futaba has a palace? How can she have one if she's not evil?" Ruby wondered.

"That doesn't matter, a Palace is the materialization of distorted cognitions brought about strong desires... That's all." Morgana explained. "It just so happens that a lot of warped people turned out evil.

"She's so young though... The pain she's gone through must be the cause of her distortion." Makoto sympathized.

"Maybe that has something to do with why she calls herself Alibaba." Ann assumes.

"I doubt it. If what Mr. Sakura said about her being socially inept being true, she probably would be embarrassed to ask us directly." Ruby theorized. "He mentioned that she is seeing and hearing things out of nowhere, right?"

"Visuals and auditory hallucinations. There's a chance those are related to some important memories she's holding. It's hard to explain... but those memories may have been warped by the distortions." Morgana guessed.

"Basically, we just gotta steal her Treasure, right?" Ryuji stated.

Morgana: "Well, yeah."

"So do we all agree about taking on Futaba's Palace?" Ann asked everyone.

"She asked us to do so, I don't think that part is an issue." Makoto agreed. "If we can heal Futaba's heart, it will not only help Boss, but she can then assist us with Medjed."

Yusuke: "I agree."

"I've been wonderin' about how Boss said 'a lot happened' after Futaba's mom died too." Ryuji agreed as well.

"I speak for my Team that we'll help however we can." Jaune and his Team agreed.

"Us too, I won't let Futaba suffer for this. You can count us in." Ruby agreed as well as her Teammates.

"Hold on a second, our investigation of her Palace may not go like anything we've done up to this point. Having an individual ask you to steal their heart is an extremely irregular case." Morgana explained. "There's no telling what the Palace ruler's disposition will be like or the distortion that'll be there. And that's nothing like Gaius's Palace, as it was Lord Byakko's doing."

"I know we may be running into some unforeseen situations, but we're sure about this." Ruby declared.

"Yeah, let's do this." Akira agrees.

"All right. Let's just make sure we're cautious." Morgana followed.

"Well, let's get crackin' on those keywords, huh?" Ryuji suggested.

"The ones we have at the moment are 'Futaba Sakura' and 'Sojiro Sakura's house.'" Makoto explained.

"So we have the 'who' and the 'where,' so that left us with 'what,' correct?" Pyrrha pointed out.

"Let us try going to their house first." Yusuke suggested.

"Wha- don't tell me we have to intrude into his house again...?" Weiss groaned.

"Boss is busy running the cafe, isn't he? We should make sure he doesn't suspect anything." Ann included despite Weiss's protest. Eventually they left the shop for the Sakura residence.

* * *

8/06 **Sakura Residence** Daytime

They now outside their residence as the group were checking the last keyword to use... No keywords found yet. "She's a shut-in, so we just gotta figure out 'what' she thinks her house is." Ryuji assumed.

"If she can't get out, maybe a prison?" Blake guessed.

 _"Conditions have not been met."_ The MetaNav stated.

"Perhaps a labyrinth with an unknown exit?" Makoto guessed.

 _"Conditions have not been met."_ The MetaNav stated again.

"Hmm... Maybe an oasis?" Ann guessed.

 _"Conditions have not been met."_ The MetaNav repeated.

"Oh! How about school!" Nora guessed and yet...

 _"Conditions have not been met."_ The MetaNav stated, as Nora frowned.

"Nothing so far. In that case, how about hell?" Yusuke guessed.

 _"Conditions have not been met."_ The MetaNav repeated.

"We don't have nearly enough clues..." Weiss sighed.

"You think we could ask directly?" Yang wondered as she open the unlocked gate.

"Seriously? But what will we say to get in?" Weiss asked.

"Whaddya mean? We're sneakin' in." Ryuji told her.

"You have to be joking." Makoto stated. "Won't the door be locked this time?" She asked.

But then Ruby open the door. "I think he forgot to lock it... again..." She mentioned. "Morgana, do you know where her room is?" She asked.

"I'm confident that I know where her room is, just follow me." Morgana said as he jumped off the wall, walking into the house.

"But what if we run into Mr. Sakura? There's no way we'll be able to avoid his questions this time." Weiss protest.

"He's at work now, so I think we should be fine." Ann rest assured.

"You both havin' cold feet? It'll be fine. We've gone through loads of shit like this already." Ryuji agreed.

"Yeah, just nothing illegal on our part, though..." Jaune included as they entered the house, leaving Weiss and Makoto outside.

"... This is our only choice, right?" Maktoto wondered as she and Weiss reluctantly followed suit.

* * *

Morgana led they group into the house and guided them through the tight hallways until they reached a door with "DO NOT ENTER" and "CAUTION" signs posted on. "This is Futaba's room." Morgana stated.

"Futaba-chan? You're in there, right?" Makoto knocked on her door with no response.

"There's no answer. Should we knock harder?" Nora suggested as everyone else advised against her.

"Futaba-chan, are you there? I'm sorry for being startled and screaming yesterday. It was so dark that I got scared." Makoto apologized, but she didn't answered.

"No reaction whatsoever." Yusuke commented.

"Well this is going to be difficult." Weiss scoffed.

"Think I can try?" Ruby suggested as she step forward in Makoto's place. "Hello, Alibaba?" She called out, but moment's later her scroll rung up.

"Is that... Futaba calling?" Makoto asked.

 _"Why are you here?"_ Futaba questioned in text message.

"Why's she only reacting to that name?" Morgana asked.

"You're Futaba Sakura, aren't you?" Makoto asked, but no reply.

"She's not responding to that name again? Does she not like us calling her that?" Blake assumed.

"We don't have time to dally around. We need her keyword before dealing with Alibaba's identity." Morgana exclaimed.

"Hang on a sec..." Ruby said as she approached the door. "Alibaba, we want to learn more about you. If we don't do so, we can't steal your heart. The fact that you contacted us is the fact we are committing to our cause. Besides, we came here because we need the keyword to enter your Palace." She explained.

"That's why we wanted to talk with Futaba Sakura herself, and not Alibaba." Makoto added as Futaba responded with silence. "You don't have to show yourself. Just answer some questions for us. Text messages are fine." She assured.

 _"Ok."_ Futaba, under the alias, Alibaba, agreed on the text.

"Our member, the girl you hack her scroll, Ruby Rose, wants to speak with you." Makoto explained as she turns to Ruby. "We're counting on you, Ruby-chan. Try and get a keyword out of her." She asked as Ruby nodded and begun texting.

 _"So what do you want to talk about?"_ Alibaba asked.

 _"Just wondering, how is living in this house to you?"_ Ruby asked.

 _"It's painful."_ Alibaba replied.

 _"Why's that? Why don't you go out?"_ Ruby asked.

 _"I don't know. I just can't leave this place. I'm going to die here."_ Alibaba answered.

"Wha- Die...?" Weiss stuttered.

"Wait, is she... suicidal...?" Blake wondered with concern.

 _"Why do you think that?"_ Ruby asked.

 _"Why? This place is my tomb."_ Alibaba stated.

"Tomb? You think that's it?" Jaune wondered.

"Try entering 'Tomb'" Morgana suggested.

And so Akira entered the keyword and their surrounding started to blur. _"Input accepted. Searching for route to destination."_ The MetaNav stated, much to their surprise.

"We got it?" Yang assumed.

 _"Was that enough?"_ Alibaba asked.

"Yes. It was plenty." Makoko assured. "You haven't forgotten your promise of helping us if we complete your request, right?"

 _"I haven't. We made a deal."_ Alibaba confirmed.

"Whelp, let's hurry up and go." Nora stated as she then scooted up near Akira and press the enter key, saying; "Click."

"Nora!" They exclaimed as they were instantly teleport into the Metaverse.

* * *

8/06 **Distorted Sakura Residence** Daytime

The next thing thing they realized, they were in the middle of a desert.

"A desert? How...?" Pyrrha begged to wonder.

"No idea..." Ryuji replied, but then noticed their clothes hasn't changed yet. "Wait, what the- Our clothes are still the same?" He realized.

"Futaba herself is asking us to steal her heart. It'd be odd if she saw us as a threat. If she doesn't see us as an enemy, then your clothes don't change. That's how it works." Morgana explained and glared at Nora. "But more importantly, why did you activate it like that!?"

Nora: "Sorry..."

"Is that why we ended up in a desert? Where's the tomb? It's so damn hot here." Ryuji complained.

"Even though we entered from inside the house, did we manage to enter her palace?" Ren wondered.

"She must really want to keep people away from her." Makoto assumes.

"Still... this bleak feeling about this place... It's completely different than Gaius's castle." Blake mentioned.

"Uhh... are deserts like these what it feels like in Vacuo? Think we can go find where the treasure is now?" Jaune groaned from the desert heat.

"Is it that way?" Morgana pointed at a shining glint of light in a far distant.

"Oh yeah, there's somethin' shiny." Ryuji noticed as well.

"Hm... a tomb in a desert... make sense." Weiss nodded.

"So... don't tell me we're gonna walk there?" Yang wondered.

"Yeah, isn't it pretty far?" Ann agreed in a similar expression.

"Of course not! My paws would get burned!" Morgana exclaimed as he cleared away from the group and then transformed into a van with his cat aspects attached to it.

"What the... Morgana!?" Ruby staggered by surprise, much to the other Huntsmen Students as well.

"You're.. a car!? How are you a car!?" Jaune exclaimed his question.

"This comes from the way cognition materializes in the Metaverse, plus a bit of extra training. It's not dissimilar to how you guys transform." Morgana explains.

"Um... turning into a car is totally different than our clothes changing." Blake pointed out baffled expression.

"Yeah, I said same thing when we saw that." Ryuji mentioned as the Student Huntsmen took a closer look at Morgana's vehicle form.

"For some reason, 'cats turning into buses' is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public." Morgana added.

"That's so cool!" Ruby stated with glee as she inspected inside the car.

"Wait, why didn't you do this at Gaius's Palace!? It would've save us a lot of time!" Weiss exclaimed.

"I would have if I could!" Morgana retorted. "But that palace was cramped, I can't fit all of you guys, and there's no way to fit myself into some portrait!"

Ruby got into the driver seat and pressed random button and flipped switches to start him up, making him purr as the supposed engine started up. "Whelp, whatever works!" She declared as her friends were about to stop until she hit Jaune by accident, punting him away. "Um... how do I control this...?"

"Owww...!" Jaune wailed in pain.

"No one taught her how to drive, right...?" Ann wondered.

"Let me steer." Makoto suggested with a sigh as Ruby switched seats.

The group managed to fit the Phantom Thieves and Team RWBY, leaving no space for Team JNPR. "Oh crud, are the seats filled?" Nora asked.

"Hey Mona, can't you stretch bus further?" Ryuji asked.

"This is the only form I can transform into, I can't 'stetch' it any further!" Morgana retorted.

"Seriously? So then how are the rest of us over there?" Nora asked.

They wondered for a bit until Jaune had a solution. "I think I have an idea. We're still in the Metaverse, right?" He mentioned.

Morgana: "Pretty much, why?"

"Odin, horse-mode!" Jaune declared, summoning his Persona as it took its form of the mechanical steed.

"That's right! Your Persona can do that." Pyrrha exclaimed as Team JNPR climbed onto Odin.

"Okay then, to the tomb!" Ruby declared as they begun their travel towards their destination.

"I've been waiting for this!" Yusuke agreed.

* * *

 ***Going through the Scorching Desert**

The journey to their destination was nothing out of the ordinary as Team JNPR rode on horseback with Jaune somehow getting motion sickness, despite this being his idea. On the other hand, the Phantom Thieves along with Team RWBY were sweating up a storm.

"Ugh... what is with the AC...? Is it broken?" Weiss questioned.

"It's so stuffy..." Ann groaned.

"Yes, I know... But it beats opening the windows to the hot desert air." Makoto sighed.

"Say, Ann, didn't you have that mineral water you brought in with you?" Blake wondered, starting to feel parched.

"I drank it already..." Ann responded weakly as the girls sighed in response, excluding Ruby who was gazing out into the vast ocean of sand.

"You think Vacuo has deserts like theses?" Ruby wonders.

"Beats me... I haven't been there..." Makoto sighed. "Say, how are the guys?"

Yang looked at the guys she sitting next to as they were staring down on the girls in front with their... undergarments visible. "Huh? Hey!" She exclaimed as she knocked some sense into those three.

The car was shaking violently as Team JNPR was watching the scuffle going on inside. "Mrooowgh! Knock it off!" Morgana exclaimed.

"Looks like they're having fun." Ren speculates.

"I'm not!" Jaune groaned as his face turned slightly green.

"Morons!" Ann grunted as the guys groaned in pain as Ruby and Akira notices their destination.

"Looks like we're getting close." Ruby mentions as they approached the Tomb.

* * *

They finally reached the base of the tomb while everyone riding in the van were seating up a storm. Jaune was reliving himself out of sight.

"It's so hot..." Ann sighed.

"Morgana, what is wrong the AC!?" Weiss questioned irritatingly.

"It wasn't workin' at all! The hell was that lukewarm air about!?" Ryuji exclaimed his questioned.

"That was the best I could do, so quit your yapping!" Morgana retorted back.

"For real. You are so half-assed!" Ryuji exclaimed back as they butted heads at each other.

"What was that!? You wanna fight, punk!?" Morgana hissed.

"Agh, shut up you guys! It's already hot! Do not get me more irritated!" Yang growled with her eyes glowing red.

Soon enough, Jaune with Pyrrha holding him up returned to the group. "You feeling better, Jaune?" Ren asked.

"Yeah... at least I don't think I vomited that much... compared to the trip on the aircraft." Jaune though back.

"So this is what Futaba thinks of her Palace...?" Ruby eyed her sights before the golden ratio in front of them.

 ***The Days When My Mother Was There -another version-**

"Hey, a pyramid's a tomb, right?" Ryuji asked.

"Yes, it's a pharaoh's tomb." Yusuke answered.

"That's how it's mostly known. There are a variety of theories on it." Makoto included. "For instance, it's even said to be a device for reviving the dead."

"Reviving the dead, huh...?" Yang pondered.

"It's beautiful nonetheless... It's perfectly conformed to the golden ratio..." Yusuke speculated.

"So... can we go inside? I don't think I can last any longer in the heat..." Blake groaned.

"Yeah, feels like I'm gonna melt." Ryuji agreed as they went in.

"To think Futaba thinks of her house..." Weiss scanned around.

"We'll find out more about her secrets in here, right?" Ann assumes.

"Indeed. Well, let's head inside." Makoto assured as they opened the door.

 ***The Days When My Mother Was There**

As they set foot withing the interior, they felt refreshed by the cool air blown on them. "Oh wow, the AC... so refreshing...!" Jaune sighed with a sense of euphoric.

"That's delightful." Blake silently agreed.

"It may be because Futaba's room in reality has AC pumping through it." Makoto assumes.

"Either way, this is a relief." Weiss sighed with said relief.

Huh, our clothes still haven't changed even now. This has never happened to us before." Ann checked herself of her Phantom Thief outfit.

"It is refreshing that she doesn't see us as a threat... but we are completely surround by walls." Ren scanned the surroundings.

"I guess this is a tomb... It's probably not made to be easy to get into." Morgana agrees.

"Anyways, let's check this place out." Ruby suggested as they climbed up stairs upwards. Jumping on pillars of sands below followed by a grand set of stairs going afar.

"Those stairs go pretty far." Jaune remarked.

"Oh my god, there's way too many...!" Nora groaned.

"For real!" Ryuji grunted in a similar manner.

"Don't ask for too much. You guys should be happy we're not being attacked as we ascend." Morgana retorted as he then took a whiff of something he likes as his eyes sparkled. "More importantly, I can totally sense the Treasure ahead! We're getting pretty close now!" He mentioned.

"Well that seems easier than I though." Yang chuckled.

"Then these stairs should lead us to the heart of the pyramid?" Blake assumes.

"Hmm... I wonder if that's where the Treasure waits..." Ruby wonders as she leads the group upstairs.

"Man, no enemies or nothing? I'm all for shit like this." Ryuji commented.

"You think it's because she's not a criminal?" Ruby guesses.

"She did welcome us here, after all." Morgana reassured.

"Don't let your guard down everyone, This is a pyramid, so there may be traps." Makoto reminded.

"So this is the mystique of a bygone era... The real thing surpasses any picture." Yusuke commented on his further speculation.

"I don't think you can call this the real thing..." Makoto doubted.

As they approached the end of the stairway, they eventually come across a young faunus girl with cat ears before them, wearing a pair of large black circular glasses, clothes of Egyptian fashion; sleeveless top made of wraps that also covers her neck and exposes her midriff and a white floor-length skirt along with wraps that connect to her bracelets and upper armpieces, and a golden headpiece that has a snake in the front and bares the top of her head along with red jewels.

"Is she who we think she is?" Akira asked.

"That's Futaba's Shadow. It isn't really her." Morgana confirmed.

"Oh yeah, you've seen her face. True, this one kinda dressed like a queen." Ryuji agreed.

"Holy cats, she looks so cute! That get-up is so unique!" Ruby squealed with delight.

"So you're Futaba Sakura." Makoto realized as Shadow Futaba glared back at them.

"So... where is the treasure you want us to take?" Nora asked as she approaches her, but say says nothing in response.

"It is doubtful that you wouldn't know where it is." Pyrrha added.

"Hey, say something." Ryuji demanded.

"Hey, hey, don't be like that! You sound more of a bully if you keep that up!" Ruby mentioned as she stood between him and Futaba's Shadow. "Let me try." She suggested. *Ahem*-

 **"Those who plunder my tomb, why have you come?"** Shadow Futaba questioned before Ruby said her piece.

Ann: "She talked... but..."

"What are you sayin'? You wanted us to steal it right?" Ryuji recalled.

 **"If you believe you can steal it, then try as you might."** Shadow Futaba declared with dissident.

"That's rather defiant sounding." Morgana mentioned.

"You think that's one of those 'tsundere' thing where someone is harsh or sweet depending on the mood?" Ren wonders.

"Wait... Morgana, you think her Shadow isn't informed of what her real self asked us to do?" Ruby mentioned.

"I think that's correct. The Futaba in reality can't possibly know about what happens here and visa-versa. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed, a side of one's personality they don't want to see." Morgana explained.

 **"Considering the state that my Palace is in... there's no way that you can steal it."** Shadow Futaba stated.

"Why is that?" Ruby asked as distorted voice rung all around the group.

 _ **"Creepy child!**_

 _ **"You killed her!"**_

 _ **"You're a plague!"**_

"W-What are these voices?" Jaune questioned as the group looked around.

Just then, Shadow Futaba collapsed on the ground as Ruby went to aid her. "Hey, hey, Futaba, you okay?" Ruby asked as the voice continues to ring out.

 ** _"Murderer!"_**

 ** _"Why don't you say something!?"_**

"Murderer?" Blake muttered.

 ** _"You're the one who killed her!"_**

 ** _"It's all your fault!"_**

"This is horrible..." Ann said.

"What the hell!? What is this?" Yang growled in anger.

 ** _"Don't come near me!"_**

 ** _"Don't just stand there, say something!"_**

 ** _"It's your fault!"_**

 ** _"Murderer!"_**

As the voices echoed their outrage, Shadow Futaba stood up and started to fade out. "Futaba?" Ruby asked.

 **"... That's right. I did it."** Shadow Futaba declared as the students turned their head back to Shadow Futaba. **"I am the one who killed my mother."**

Then all of a sudden, they heard a roar that shook the ground. "What was that!?" Weiss questioned as they all looked around for the enemy.

 **"My mother exists here. I will remain here. I will do so until I die."** Shadow Futaba stated.

"Futaba! Huh!?" Ruby exclaimed as blue flames burst out from the students as their Phantom Thief outfits, excluding Nora.

"What the- guys! Your clothes!" Nora exclaimed.

"Does that mean she sees us as a threat? What's going on!?" Blake, now as Saber, questioned as the building shook once more.

* * *

8/06 **Sakura Residence** Daytime

Back in Futaba's room in reality, Futaba is currently on her computer until she heard voices again. "This... again..." She fidgeted as she covers her cat ears.

 _ **"You killed her!"**_

 _ **"You're a plague!"**_

 ** _"Murderer!"_**

 ** _"Why don't you say something!?"_**

The voices rang loudly as Futaba muttered to herself. "That's right... I killed Mom. I don't deserve to be alive..." She stated with heavy breaths. "This place is a tomb... I'll die here..."

 _ **"That's right, die!"**_

 _ **"Don't come near me!"**_

 ** _"Don't just stand there, say something!"_**

 ** _"It's your fault!"_**

Moments after the voices faded away, Futaba shook her head in denial. "No...! Someone help me..." She whimpered.

* * *

8/06 **Distorted Sakura Residence** Daytime

The building was still shaking with the students still in confusion. "This is bad! I'm having a hard time getting a grasp of our situation." Queen stated

"We need regroup and-" Rook tried to suggest something but was interrupted by an incoming boulder rolling their way. "Oh crap, RUN!" He exclaimed as they did.

They continued to sprint down the stairs until the boulder was right on top of the huntsmen. "Rook!" Freya exclaimed as she pushed her partner aside along with Lotus and Nora jumping out of the way as well, just as Team RWBY did ducking under from the other side.

The rest of the Phantom Thieves sprinted until they managed to reach cover far down the stairs as the boulder dropped into the sandy pit below, breaking the pillars that allowed them a passageway.

"Ugh... that was close!" Rouge stuttered as doors behind them started to close up.

"We're gonna get trapped if we linger! Move!" Rook exclaimed as they tried to rush towards the rest of their group but was cut-off as the last door closed upon the Huntsmen. "No!"

"Guys!" Joker called out to them as they approached the now closed door "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine, but the door's locked." Rouge responded from the other side.

"Great, now what...?" Skull groaned.

"Well... considering we've been locked from the inside I don't supposed we wait this out, can we?" Lotus assumes as Nora and Blaze tries to pound the door open to no avail.

"We'll find a way inside from here. Can you guys sit tight for now?" Mona suggested.

"It's not like we have a choice in the matter..." Blanc sighed.

"Thinkin' we need to find a key? No point sittin' around, though. Whaddya wanna do, Joker?" Skull asked.

"We'll have to figure out a way to open the door. Maybe find a key or look for another entrance." Joker suggested.

"Not a bad idea. We'll head out and search the area outside, see if we can find a way around." Morgana suggested.

"Ok. Good luck you guys!" Rouge confirmed as they wondered what to do next.

"So we just hang back? I guess I'm cool with that." Jaune agreed as Rouge walked up the stairs until she sees a door.

"Say, guys, why don't we check the area out for a bit?" Rouge suggested as she pulls a level to the side of the door opening. "I mean... we're not really going anywhere with the doors locked."

"Perhaps we can scout the rooms while the others find a key then?" Saber agreed.

"It's not like we have anything else to do than wait." Blanc followed.

"I guess why not." Rook agreed alongside his Team.

"Alright, let's go!" Blaze stated with a fist-pump as their group decided to check the rooms.

* * *

While the Student Huntsmen decides to wait for them, the Phantom Thieves decided to head outside until Shadow Futaba hollered to them. **"Are you leaving?"** She asked as they turned around to see her. **"Let's talk for a moment."** She asked as they returned to her. **"You all are so persistent. Are you that determined to steal my treasure?"** She asked.

"We're only here 'cause we gotta be! I can't believe you tried to drop a boulder on us!" Skull complained. "You want us to steal your Treasure or not?"

 **"Hm, why don't we make a deal? You wish to proceed further, yes?"** Shadow Futaba assumed. **"There is a town nearby. I would like you to take back that which the bandit there stole from me."**

"Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing a town on the way here." Panther mentioned.

 **"If you bring what was stolen from me, I will give you a reward. I'll even tell you how to proceed."** Her Shadow added.

"Can't you tell us any more details? Anything about this bandit, or what was stolen?" Queen inquired.

 **"You'll learn all the information you need to know once you arrived."** Shadow Futaba stated as Makoto reluctantly nodded.

"... I guess we'll have to head outside if we want to go to the town." Joker suggested as he turns and leaves the temple along with his group. Shadow Futaba looks back at the door where the Student Huntsmen were trapped in.

* * *

The Student Huntsmen traversed the corridors and then entered another room to find Shadow Futaba expecting them to show up. "Futaba?" Rouge said with surprise as they approached her.

"You know, that wasn't very nice dropping that boulder on us. What were you thinking!?" Blanc questioned.

 **"You're all resourceful enough to evade death. I have confidence that you would all survive."** Shadow Futaba assured, despite the protest from the students.

"Futaba, we're only helping you because we want to. The others are finding their way back in so we can all help you. Is... there a reason that you're trying to kill us?" Blaze asked, yet Shadow Futaba evaded the question.

 **"I sent your 'other' friends to another place to assist. But if you are that determined, then follow me."** Shadow Futaba commanded as she walked into another open room.

As they proceeded to follow her, she vanished from their sight as rook stepped further enough to trigger spikes from the floor. Rook squealed as Freya manage to pull him out before the spikes even hit him. "Th-That was close!" He exclaimed in horror.

"Seriously! Is she trying to kill us!?" Nora questioned.

Rouge inspected the room from behind the floor spikes. "I don't think so, I think she's trying to lead us into this room where we need to go into." She assumes. She sees a beam of light shining on a reflective mirror that's diverting the beam to the right wall. "I think there's some significance in this room."

 **"Hey, who's there!?"** A Shadow exclaimed as the group hid behind cover as the Shadow entered the same hall where the group were.

The Persona users stepped back before the Shadow faced towards them and walked into their direction. "Well then, our first encounter in her Palace..." Rouge confirmed.

"Unless we can do something about this trap, we won't be able to proceed." Freya mentioned.

"There's still a path going further that way, maybe Rouge is on to something?" Lotus assumes.

"As expected. We are raiding a tomb after all. Shall we?" Blanc suggested as Team RWBY surprised the Shadow with Rouge slicing its mask off, commencing a battle.

* * *

 ***Last Surprise**

Soon a Slithering Snakewoman and a Bearer of the Scales takes form before them. one of them immediately casts **Maragion** on them staggering Blanc of her feet followed by inflicting **Ominous Words** upon Rook, causing him to feel really depressed. "Rook? Rook! Snap out of it!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Am... am I even capable...?" Rook staggered with depression.

"He doesn't look good. Let me try something!" Lotus suggested as he summon Ravana casting Energy Drop, refreshing his teammate.

"Gwah! That... I though I was gonna pass out!" Rook staggered.

"Focus Rook!" Blanc exclaimed while blasting a **Bufula** on the Slithering Snake Shadow, downing it by its weakness. "Blaze!" She turned to her as she Baton Passed.

"Got it!" Blaze high-fived her back as she lunged towards the Bearer of the Scales. She launched multiple punches and jabs consecutively as she stepped back to launch a **Agilao** from her gauntlets, striking a critical hit on the Shadow. "The bad guys are down! Let's pummel them!" Blaze declared as they all agreed on an All-out Attack. A comical smoke erupted as all eight of the Huntsmen charged in, eventually jumped out from the smoke to reveal the a wounded slithering Snake remaining. "She's still standing?" She baffled.

"I guess she did took enough damage." Rouge assumed as she swapped her Persona to shoot a **Bufu** at the Shadow, downing it before it even got back up.

 ***Talk**

As the group surrounds and points their range-weapons at the Shadow, the Slithering Snakewoman staggered with fear. **"H-hey now, there no need to point that at me, dear, I yield!"** The Shadow begged. **"I implore you! Please spare my life!"**

"Wha... is it seriously begging us?" Blanc questioned.

"Didn't Mona said that these Shadows are born from human hearts? I think we can talk to them." Rouge recalled as she spoke to the Shadow. "Look, we want to help your queen, but her state of mind isn't well. I there a way to open the doors at the staircase?" She asked.

 **"The staircase? You mean the Great Corridor? Well... You could check one of the murals in one of the rooms above, my dear, but there are still many shadows still to fight. Y** **ou will also have to find a Rejection Gem to proceed. That's all I know.** **"** The Slithering Snakewoman mentioned while minding the other Huntsmen and their weapons.

"A Rejection Gem?" Saber repeated.

 **"That's all I know. Please, I rather want to keep my skin in tact."** The Shadow begged.

"Well... we have some new info, I guess its all good. In fact, why not join us?" Rouge asked.

"Rouge!?" The other students questioned.

 **"I thank you, from the depths of my heart, for sparing m- Oh!"** The Slithering Snakewoman exclaimed with surprise just as the other students pointed their weapons at her again. **"I'm sorry, I remember now... I... am not a Shadow. I originated from the humans' sea of souls..."** She addressed itself as her body began to fade. **"My true name is Lamia, From here on forth... I am thou."** That Shadow all Lamia stated as the Shadow erupts into a light and morphs into a mask; followed by flying into Rouge's face only to be pushed down again as she gained another Persona.

Thus concludes the battle.

* * *

As the the Student Huntsmen regroups, Rouge stood back up as she found the fact that gaining a Persona was a lot more annoying. "On the bright side, you got a new friend." Blaze gave a thumbs up, despite Rouge's annoyed expression.

"At least we got some new info. Those mural and a Rejection Gem?" Saber deduced.

"We'll have to investigate further don't we?" Freya suggested as they nodded.

They proceeded down the hallways and up the stairs as they entered a room with a pool of sand below, they also noticed something glowing on the center island. "There's something shining. Is it the gem the Shadow mentioned?

"One way to find out." Lotus agreed as they reach the island. They see a dog statue holding a green glowing orb in its hand. "There's also an inscription on the slab next to it." He mentioned as Rook to a closer look.

"It says... Any who attempts to steal gem shall be cursed..." Rook read out loud which made the group felt unsure, excluding Nora.

"Well we can't let this 'curse' get to us. If it can help us get through, it's better to 'borrow' it." Nora suggested as she held the gem inscribed "Rejection Gem" in her hand with everyone staggered with surprise. "See? No sweat!"

"And I though Blaze is more less cautions..." Blanc sighed as Blaze responded with a chuckle.

They then proceeded to the next room but was blocked off by streams of arrows shooting from wall as they got closer. "Whoa! Is... this what the curse meant!?" Rook staggered by surprise.

"So how are we gonna get pass?" Blaze wondered.

"If we had some sort of wall to cover us from those arrows, we would be able to go through..." Blanc assumes as they turned to Rook.

"... What?" The oblivious Rook asked as they soon used him and his shield to pass on through. Thankfully the arrows are flying in one direction. "Are you guys serious!?" He cried.

Passing the arrows shooting at them, they were now in front of a button with a clear view of the room with the floor spikes below. This button must be the trigger to shut off the spikes." Rouge mentioned as she pressed the button; although thing happened at first they felt a rumbling.

"It feels like the ambiance of that corridor changed somehow..." Freya noted.

Rouge hopped down as she approaches the floor spikes as everyone else jumped down as well. "Whelp, it really did shut it off. Let's go guys!" She declared as they proceeded through the room and into the corridor to the left.

They traverse the corridors up and down and fighting against the Shadows that they crossed paths with. Soon enough, they stumbled upon another dog statue like the one they saw in the last room."Another statue?" Blanc wonders as Rook inspected the inscriptions.

"... Wait, it says the same thing!" Rook exclaimed.

"Not to mention that this state isn't holding a gem. What could be the meaning of this?" Saber asked.

"Whelp, we can't really do anything, so let's investigate further in." Nora suggested They entered through a another door and the path was blocked by a stream of arrows shooting again.

"Great another trap." Blanc sighed.

"...And I rather not have be your guys' wall, thank you." Rook sighed heavily.

As they paused for a bit, Rouge had an idea. "Oh! I'll be right back!" She stated as she bolted out of the corridor, heading back to the previous room while the others wondered what she was doing but soon enough the stream of shooting arrows stopped all of a sudden. Rouge eventually returned to the group. "And that's how to lift a curse!" She chuckled with a thumbs up. "It had something to do with the gem we gotten just now."

"We won't need it, won't we?" Lotus asked. The Rejection Gem seemed to hold some significance to them.

"I hope not. Now for the button." Rouge pointed as she pressed the button that triggered as small shake in the room, dust falling in response as well, followed by a projectile zipping across as it destroyed a wall to the other side, much to the group's surprise by the loud bang. "What the!?" She staggered.

They jumped down a few floors and moved towards where the area of something happening. Smoke was coming down from one point to reveal an entrance and to the other side to see a ballista."What the... What was the point for shooting a ballista at a wall?" Blanc questioned.

"Maybe they need to break down a wall? That was definitely a little out of place..." Blaze agreed.

"Well that light reflecting in that direction has way through, so there should be something up there." Rouge assumes. the jumped onto sarcophagus to reach the floor where the beam of light is pointed at, they now arrived a in a room with the beam of light bouncing off the reflector aiming at the wall to the right'; and to their left, a blank mural.

"There's nothing in this room but the reflector and its beam of light." Lotus stated.

As they investigated the room, they eventually directed their attention to the panel next to the reflector. "Looks like a control panel. Should we try doing something with it?" Rook suggested.

"Sure, go for it." Rouge agreed as they watched Rook activate the panel. Suddenly, the mural revealed a picture with images scrambled across. What they can make out of the scrambled picture looked like Shadow Futaba and three bird-headed humanoids.

"What kind of picture is that?" Blanc questioned.

"It looks scrambled too." Saber agreed.

Rook fiddled with the control panel and notice one of the segments move. "I think this is a puzzle. I'm changing the pictures around." He motioned as he flips the pieces around. Soon enough, it displays what looks like the three bird-headed humanoids were addressing something to Shadow Futaba sitting on her throne with a bird stand behind her. "There we go."

"So what's this picture of?" Blaze wondered.

Saber took a closer look at the hieroglyph "Hmm... I think there a meaning to this mural. That guy in the suit seems to be reading something to a crying child?" She explained.

"Impressive, you got that idea from Kitaguwa?" Blanc guessed. "The emotions of the artist are often depicted in the art they make, after all."

"I get the feeling that it shows enormous amount of pain harbored in her heart." Saber added.

As they all gazed at the hieroglyph, a voice echoed around them.

 _ **"I should never have had Futaba..."**_ An Adult Man's voice rung.

"That voice... is it coming from the mural?" Freya wondered.

 _ **"She was always such a bother...**_ _**It seems you caused a great deal of trouble, Futaba-chan... She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis..."**_ An Adult Man's stated.

Just then the reflector beam rotated it mirror 180* and pointed its beam at the mural, instantly revealing the Great Corridor as the beam of light shined onto the giant door, unlocking it at the same time.

"Hey... that door." Nora gasped with surprise.

"I take it we all got the same idea." Rook assumed.

"Based on the what we heard just now, it sounded like they were addressing a suicide note..." Saber lamented.

"Saying that to a kid...? Why would they do that to her!?" Rouge questioned with dismay.

"Well that pisses me off real bad." Blaze agreed, gritting her teeth in anger.

"Could this be what Futaba remembers of her mother's suicide?" Lotus wonders.

"How atrocious..." Freya agrees, sympathizing Futaba's plight. Even Rook and Nora were speechless.

"Well... we have our through. We may have opened the next door, but the mystery has only gotten worst." Rouge stated as looks downwards and finds a ledge to where they can jump down from. "That's convenient, look like we can jump from up here... Huh? Joker!?" She stagger when their group sees the Phantom Thieves running up the stairs. Joker turned around and looked up, beckoned by his codename to see the Student Huntsmen above them.

* * *

 **A/N: I think I did enough for a chapter, I had watch a playthrough in order follow the palace infiltration.**

 **With the Volume 6 going so far. I realized something... I can finally figure out what Minato's semblance could be. (Of course, someone might have mention this before) "Anti-apathy". It isn't a cool or powerful ability, but it is a good semblance for the right job. We all saw what those Apathy Grimm are capable of and goodness that was the most scariest thing I saw in the series. But yeah, I decided to give him that semblance because it feels right to him in some way.**

 **Akihiko's Semblance; Greased Lightning - In similar contrast to Yang's semblance, the more hits/damage he takes the more faster he can get. Not bad, right?**

 **Remember I still have that poll up in my page whether they got to Tastumi Port Island or Yasogami. Feel free to vote before this arc ends.**

 **PS: I think I may need to rename those previous chapters...**

 **Anyways, with nothing else to bring up, here's a skit!**

* * *

Pet Party

Down the hallway of Beacon Academy's dormitory, Ruby, Ken, and Akira were were taking their pet friends somewhere.

"Come on guys! Hurry up or we'll be late for the pet party!" Ruby declared as Zwei caught up with Koromaru.

"What is this 'pet party' about? I told you I'm not a cat!" Morgana reminded them.

"Yeah, but you can't deny the free food though." Akira reassured with a poker face.

"Hey, I heard somethin' about a pet party, what's that?" Nora asked as she walked with them.

Ken staggered to say something. "Oh, hey, Nora-senpai! Um... you know, it's a... yearly party where our animal friends can... 'CHECK UP' with on all their other animal friends... and they can get a 'SHOT' of fun while they're there." Ken ad-libbed.

"Wow! Pet Parties sounds awesome!" Nora exclaimed with excitement.

"I don't think she getting the hint..." Ruby sighed.

"Meh, I wouldn't know, I never been to a pet party before." Morgana mentioned.

"Ooh! Can I come? Can I? Pleeeeeeeeeeease?" Nora begged with her eyes sparkling.

"No, look..." Ruby muttered as she whispers into Nora's ear. "I can't say where were taking them or Zwei will freak out and run away! And it takes for ever to get him back."

"Seriously? You must've said something to scare that badly... whatever it is..." Morgana scoffed.

"I know right? It's not like we're these guys to the vet!" Nora scoffed the idea, but when Nora said the vet, it literally triggered the Zwei and Koromaru, even Morgana's pupils' to shrink.

"No... no you're not serious are you...?" Morgana asked Akira, laughing in denial. Yet Akira remained silent, either by trying think of way to calm them down or that he's not denying the trip to the vet. But it was clear to him and the dogs that they were heading to the vet.

Just as Morgana was freaking out, Zwei had it worst due to a PTSD inflicting on him. He then suddenly bolted through a door breaking into the room as Jaune witness the end of the world on that side.

"Y-YOU'RE NOT TAKING ME ALIVE!" Morgana shouted as he jumped out of Akira's bag and also ran into the hole in the door that Zwei made. The chaos on the other side of the door was unimaginable.

While Nora was oblivious, Ruby and Ken face-palmed as Akira stood there baffled.

Koromaru stood the and whined as Aigis overheard him and translated. "He said 'Do I really have to go' reluctantly." She translated.

"Okay... so when should I come to the pet party?" Nora asked as the three turned to her and sweat-dropped to her ignorance.

* * *

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there - Shoji Meguro**

 ***** **Alleycat -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Going through the Scorching Desert -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***The Days When My Mother Was There -another version-** **\- Shoji Meguro**

 ***The Days When My Mother Was There** **\- Shoji Meguro**

 ***Talk** **\- Shoji Meguro**


	11. The Time Where My Friends Are Now

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **The Time Where My Friends Are Now**

8/06 **Distorted Sakura Residence** Daytime

 ***The Days When My Mother Was There -another version-**

The Phantom Thieves managed to track the Bandit down to the city nearby and dealt with him in a simple manner, by defeating the Shadow and acquiring the stolen goods that Shadow Futaba mentioned. "Is this... some kind of papyrus? It looks like there's something written inside." Mona pointed out.

"Hey, no peeking at a girl's belongings without her permission!" Ann exclaimed.

"Y'know, just what the hell's happenin' in her heart? There's this bandit, those weird voice sayin' 'you killed her,' and who knows what else... It's a total freakin' mess." Skull complained.

"Futaba's suppose to be the queen of this Palace, but even she can't control it?" Panther added.

I don't know... I never seen a case like this..." Mona denied.

Regardless, we have no more business in this city. Shall we head bad, Joker?" Fox asked as their leader nodded in response.

"I'm worried about the other students trapped. Let's hurry." Queen stated with concern as they eventually made it out of the city.

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

* * *

 ***The Days When My Mother Was There**

The returned to the pyramid and returned the Papyrus back to Shadow Futaba who awaited their return. "We're back. Is this the thing you said they stole?" Skull asked as he handed over the papyrus to her.

Shadow Futaba opened the papyrus up to reveal a big paper that look like a map. **"Well done. It is yours now."** She said as she returned it back.

"Wait, what...? Didn't you want us to get it back because it's important?" PAnther asked.

 **"That is a map of the tomb, stolen by the bandit to aid in his ransacking of this place."** Futaba's Shadow explained.

"Why are you letting them just do what ever hey want? This is your Palace, isn't it?" Queen wondered.

 **"All that matters is that the map is now yours, just come further and... Oh."** Shadow Futaba noticed something and vanished.

Just then, a small quake shook the floor by surprise followed by the ground beneath them opened up. "Goddammiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Skull screamed as the fell into the trap.

The next thing they knew they landed upon sand that started to swallow them. "Th-This is...!" Fox stuttered.

"Quicksand! Everyone, swim with all your might!" Morgana exclaimed as they swam for their lives.

* * *

Eventually they managed to climb out of the Quicksand and onto hard ground, surviving the trap. "... Hey you guys still alive?" Skull askedas they all responded with groans and grunts.

"First a boulder and then this... Did we piss her off somehow?" Panther wondered.

"I don't think it has anything to do with angering her..." Mona denied skeptically. I suspect the problem is that she can't control her instinct to push people away from her."

"A simple defense mechanism..." Queen deduced. "Considering what's she's been through, I don't blame her for mistrusting others."

"We've gotta help Futaba-chan open up the door to her heart nonetheless. I hope the others are doing okay." Panther said.

"I'm putting my yen on the fact that may actually found something on their end. For now, let's escape first." Joker suggested.

"Right, we should worry about ourselves first and foremost." Mona agreed. Come on, let's look for a way back above ground. Otherwise the place is going to end up our tomb too."

They looked around as they see sand pouring in through canals from above and follow paths that leads out of this place. They encounter shadows but swiftly dealt with them with relevant ease and resumed their climb.

As they reach the highest floor in the area they entered into another corridor as they noticed a light on the other side of the room. "Hey... Ain't that light the exit!? I'm kinda surprise how close it ended up bein'!" Skull pointed out.

Thank god we can finally get out of here. This was all around a horrible experience." Mona sighed as they exited the area.

* * *

They soon returned to the front entrance of the Pyramid. "We made it out! Damn it's hot though. My ass is al sweaty..." Skull groaned.

"At least we have secured our escape route. We can finally resume our investigation." Fox agreed.

"We still need to find a way to open the door at the stairway. Plus, there was another corridor back their we passed that caught my eye." Queen mentioned.

"We're gonna head back down? What a drag..." Skull muttered.

"Alright. Let's double check the room once more." Mona agree as they went back down into the last room.

Thus, they went back down into the underground passage. Queen guided them to the corridor she mentioned, turns out that there was more areas to explore as they come up to a area that has spikes up with tombs behind the Shadow watching it.

"Look how tranquil it is. It appears to be different from the Shadows we've encountered prior." Fox mentioned.

"Heh, you don't gotta freak out about it! Let's beat its ass!" Skull scoffed.

"Brace yourselves, this is no ordinary Shadow!" Mona added.

"Here we go." Joker nodded as they confronted the Shadow.

 **"... FOOLISH GRAVE ROBBERS. YOU HAVE ENRAGED THE GUARDIANS OF THIS PLACE."** The Shadow exclaimed monotonously. **"HENCE, THERE SHALL BE NO PATH FOR YOU. IT IS TIME YOU PERISH!"** It declares as it takes for of a Coffin-borne God.

 ***Keeper of Lust**

The Coffin-borne god casts **Megido** upon the group as they take cover behind several pillars.

"Hmm..." Joker summons Arsene as he casts **Eiga** back at the Shadow, absorbing the spell than hurting it. "... Guess that didn't work..." He grunted as the Shadow continues to cast off **Megido**.

"I got it! Zorro!" Mona declared as he summons his Persona allowing him to casts **Garula** , causing the Shadow to stagger into a down state. "Now! While it's down!" He exclaimed as they unleashed an All-Out Attack.

Despite the powerful technique, they have yet to defeat the Shadow. It then retaliated back by casting Trapped Rat on Mona. "*squeak squeak squeeeaaak*!" Mona said with panic.

"Holy shit! That guy can turn us 'ta rats!?" Skull exclaimed with surprise.

The Shadow soon made another move by calling for another Shadow, a Lamia appeared.

No sooner we face more foes... nonetheless!" Fox quoted as he summons Goemon and casts **Bufula** on the Slithering Snakewoman, staggering the shadow. "... We will endure. Joker!"

Fox baton passed to his leader and Joker summons Sandman as its casts **Garula** at the Coffin-borne God. "They're both down! Shall we?" Fox suggested as they launched another All-Out Attack.

They managed to defeat the Lamia, but the Coffin-borne God was still standing. "Damn bastard's still persistent!" Skull growled. He summons Captain Kidd and shoots a **Zionga** at it.

The Coffin-borne God narrowed its attention towards Mona who is currently still a mouse and narrowed its **Megido** spell, specifically at him. "*Squeeeeaaaak*!" Mona cried frantically as he was doing his best to avoid the shots.

"Keep moving!" Joker commanded as he went in several swipes with his knife and, by luck, allowed him to strike a critical with a follow-up using his gun afterwards, shooting it at its weak point. "I got this! Kin-ki!" He summoned the Persona as Kin-ki slammed it's weapon like a sledgehammer, causing it to stagger in a dizzy status. "Third time's the charm, guys?" Their leader signaled for another All-Out Attack, this time, they managed to destroy the coffin this time as Joker checks his gloves with a smug.

Just as the battle ended, so did Mona transforming back to his cat self.

* * *

"So, what' it like being the prey this time?" Skull chuckled a joke.

"Shaddup!" Mona retorted followed by a heavy sigh.

"All right, we managed to scraped through that somehow! Let's keep it up and head for the treasure!" Panther cheered.

"We should make sure sure we don't get reckless though. It's better to proceed one step at a time." Queen suggested with caution.

They noticed a door above the set of coffins and climbed up and entered the next room; filled with sand and a misplaced weapon at a far corner. "What's this? Some kinda giant bow and arrow thing?" Skull guessed as they cross

"Oh, that's a stationary weapon back from the middle era called a ballista." Queen answered.

"You even know about stuff like this, Queen? I guess that's pretty fitting for you." Panther complimented with astonishment.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Queen grumbled.

"Hold up, that thing ain't gonna shoot us or anything, right?" Skull asked.

Queen took a closer at the ballista. "Well, there's an arrow in here, but it seems to be broken. On top of that, it's slanted away." She examined. I don't think it will pose a problem, so it's we don't touch it." She said to them.

"Alright, let's continue." Mona suggested and continued their infiltration. They climbed up another floor in the room and they see only a reflecting mirror diverting a beam of light... at a wall.

"The light pouring from the ceiling is reflecting off of here, but it's hitting the wall..." Fox observed.

"Maybe there's something in the other room... Let's double check." Joker suggested as they went back into the other room where they see another door on a far end. Joker then spots a ledge for them to climb on and tread over the room as they notice a button next to the end of the ledge. "A button?" Joker wonders.

"Think before you go touching that, Ok? It might be a trap. Although, I'm curious about it myself..." Mona mentioned.

"Alright, let's press it." Joker decides to press it anyways.

Nothing happened at the moment, but soon enough the slanted Ballista below fired at the wall where the room with the reflecting mirror was at, creating an opening for the beam of light to pass through shining upon the lock door in the room.

Despite that, it did spooked the Phantom Thieves. "Holy crap, that totally scared the shit outta me! It totally WAS a trap!" Skull exclaimed.

"I'm not so sure about that..." Mona mentioned as he looks back at the opening from the other room with the reflecting mirror. "It looks like pressing the button change something in here.

"Yes, there is now light being cast on that door. It is a markedly obvious difference." Fox agreed as they took a closer look at the door.

As they approached the large door, it slid open as they got near. "Oh, hey! It's open!" Panther said.

"So shining light upon the door is what caused it to unlock..." Fox summed up.

"Wait, doesn't that mean we can open the door at the great stairs the same way!?" realized.

"That's a definite possibility. In any case, we should push on." Queen agreed as they continued int the next room.

The first thing they see were a stone tablet between a pair coffins. "Hey, there's something written here..." Panther noticed.

"Let's see here..." Queen took a closer look and read the inscriptions out loud. "'The light shed by go of the underworld shall become the sign for those who traverse the pits.' is what it says. What could this mean...?" She speculates.

"Maybe there's more to it than what it says. Let's check further." Mona suggested.

The cut through the room's shadow and climbed up on the coffins and made their way towards another room, but with an dog's head on top of the door.

The next room was nothing out of the ordinary, beside the glowing green gem in the palm of a statue with a dog's head. "It's holdin' something... Wait, what is this statue anyways? Some kinda dog... thing?" Skull questioned.

"This is Anubis, an ancient Deity of the underworld in some folklore. It seems to have some kind of shining orb..." Queen explained.

"That sounds familiar. Something about light from the underworld...?" Panther repeated.

"Hm, this may come in handy. Shall we take it?" Fox asked as Joker approached the statue.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Joker agreed as he took the Abyss Gem. "This orb seems important."

As they left the room, they see Shadows coming their way and Joker led his group up a floor from a set of coffins near them, as the Shadows failed to find where they went. Thus the Phantom Thieves continued to climb up another set of coffins and traversed the walkway and climbed up floors towards another room that has an Anubis statue holding a gem.

"Huh, this statue's the same weird dog thing as before. And look, it's got one of them gems too!" Skull mentioned as they approach the statue.

"The Deity's name is Anubis. It really isn't that hard to remember, skull..." Mona sighed. "So, do you think we should take this gem?"

"Sure, let's take it." Joker agreed as he took the other Abyss Gem.

And so, they left the room and continued their investigation towards another door nearby.

Upon entering, they discovered another reflecting mirror with a beam of light shining on it along with a view of the locked door of the Great Stairways. "The doors to the great stairs!" Fox realized. "That means we are directly above where we ended up after coming through the front entrance."

They approached the reflecting mirror that was directing the light's reflection at the wall. "Hey, don't this look familiar? Y'know, back from when we opened that door underground?" Skull mentioned.

"We had to shine light on that one get it open, right? Do you think this is the same mechanism!?" Panther realized.

Joker stood before the panel under the reflective mirror and tried to press the button... yet, there was no response. "I guess there's no power to this..." He muttered.

What about these pedestals? It seems they have a cavity in them... it looks like something might fit inside." Queen deduced.

"Maybe we should put that orb thing we got from the Anubis statue in there." Panther suggested.

"Let's try it." Joker agreed as he place both orbs into the cavities and the floor started to shake.

The room started to change as the reflective mirror began to rotate the beam of light towards the door as the sound of its lock unlocking.

"All right, we got it!" Skull rooted.

"So shining light upon it is what causes it to open. That is the same as the door underground." Fox theorized.

"We can't sit on our laurels though. Let's stay cautious and proceed forward." Queen stated.

They descended towards the floor below and approached the giant door, as it opened up as soon as the Phantom Thieves approached the door. "Yes, it opened!" Panther cheered.

"We seemed to be pushing our way through the doors of her heart." Fox stated.

"... I don't know if I'd phrase it like that. Anyways-" Panther noted, but then another quake shook the ground. A beam of light appeared and aimed at the next door down. "Whoa, what just happened?" She questioned.

"Another beam of light has shined upon the next door, but we didn't do anything, did we?" Fox wondered.

"Whelp, we'll take if if it means we get to the treasure soon." Skull rest assure.

"Hold on, were our friends waiting over here? Where are they?" Queen mentioned. As they recalled, they were trapped on the other side.

"Maybe they went ahead? They might've found something." Joker assumed as they proceeded up the stairs until someone called to him.

"Joker!?" Rouge exclaimed from above. The Phantom Thieves turned around but they soon looked up to see the Huntsmen looking back at them.

"Oh, there you guys are!" Mona responded as the Huntsmen group climbs down to them. "Were you guys the one who unlocked the door?" he point at the next door."

"I guess so... and you guys managed to get the other door to open as well?" Saber asked.

"We will fill you guys in. Is there a place to share our information?" Blanc asked.

"There's should be a safe room nearby, follow me." Mona said as he lead the two groups to the nearby safe room. And so, both groups shared their recently discovered information thus far.

"Seriously!? Now that's a fuckin' sick thing to do to a kid if that's really how it all went down." Skull growled.

"Maternity neurosis? It a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations. It may be defined simply as a poor ability to adapt to one's environment, but I can't imagine how raising a child would cause such a problem..." Queen speculated.

"And now Futaba's suffering because of people, her relatives, ousted her like that." Rook scratched his head in frustration.

"Let's not forget the suicide note. That is something that a child should never hear." Freya added.

A moment of silence until Mona broke it. "Well, we've all manage to come this far and we opened two more doors already. I'd say we're now halfway to the treasure."

"Yeah, we made a deal with with her, let's help her guys!" Rouge followed up with confidence as everyone else agreed.

They continued into the next chamber and tirelessly dealt with more Shadow on the way. A few turns and corners they climb down to a corridor until they see Shadow Futaba waiting for them again. "Futaba!" Rouge exclaimed as she and the rest o the group approached her.

 **"You're late. What took you so long?"** Shadow Futaba questioned as she soon up and left them, going down the corridor.

"Urghhh, that's it! I had it up to here with her!" Skull yelled.

"Let it go, Skull." Queen reassured as Skull sighed.

The group followed the path the Futaba's Shadow took as Blanc noticed the sides of the corridor had sand piled towards the walls of both sides. "Hold on a minute, what's with all the sand here?" She asked, no sooner as the ground began to shake once more.

Suddenly a big boulder appeared at the top of the corridor, just as Mona realized it. "Shoot, this is bad! Get back!" He exclaimed as he led a retreat as they barely made back to a corner of the corridor while the boulder rolled into a pot hole in its path.

"Okay... what the hell is she thinking!?" Blaze questioned in irritation.

Rouge peeked out from a corner as she sees no more boulders rolling down. "We certainly can go up there, but it won't do us any good if more boulders keeps coming." She stated.

Mona also peeked of their surrounding as he notices a big hole on the other side of the wall. "In there!" He pointed as he led the group through the hole. The next room was filled with tombs in a sorted order.

"This seems to be the backside of the giant boulder trap." Fox assumes.

"Let's survey the area." Saber suggested as they check the room. Freya managed to pull Rook before he fell from collapsing stone flooring. Half the group inspects the tombs while the other half goes up a floor as the notices a button alongside a blank slab.

"There's nothing visible on the slab. Should we press it?" Queen asked.

"Let's come back to this after we check the area a little more." Joker suggested.

The group goes down the walkway as they approached a door with a scaffold next to it. Rouge tried to open the door, and yet there was no response from door. Assuming that the door is broken, they inspected the scaffolding as Rook pushed a board down as it landed towards the other side, allowing them passage towards the other room over. However, the only thing that was within, was a blank slab at the end.

"There's another one of those slabs, But... there's nothing legible on the surface." Rouge noted.

"Sounds pretty useless to me. Whaddya wanna do, Joker?" Skull asked.

"I'm certain that there's more to it than a slab in this room..." Joker said otherwise as he took a closer look at the slab. As he placed his on it, words in purple appeared on it, followed by the ground shaking.

"Ooooh! It's shinnin'!" Skull commented.

"Hm, the devices controlling the murals seemed to react in a similar fashion." Queen deduced.

"Something showed up! It says B01010?" Panther read the slab.

"You think that could be a clue or something?" Rook wondered.

"Either way, we should search to see anything has changed." Fox suggested as they left the room.

As they left the room, they see half the sets of tombs lighting up orbs on them. "Hey, did you guys do something?" Blaze asked as the other half of the group were inspecting the tombs.

"So this thing's link to the stone slab is what powers it..." Mona muttered.

"Quite the impressive contraption. Why don't we examine it closer?" Fox suggested.

They regroup with their of other half of their company and inspected the tombs further. It seems the hologram's coming from these coffins." Saber stated. Rook fiddled with one of their control panels and it turned off. He pressed the button again and it turned back on.

"I see... So it's possible to turn it back on as well." Queen deduced. "It looks like we can turn the holograms on or off by accessing each control panel."

"You think it's related to the code from earlier?" Blanc wondered.

"Code?" Nora asked.

"That's right, B01010,That's what was on the slab in the back room." Panther answered.

"So if we can follow up with the code with these coffins, we might be able to unlock something?" Freya assumes.

They adjusted certain coffins that were match a code that they found and then they noticed the slab up stairs were glowing. "Hey, the slab here's shining now." Nora exclaimed as they reached her at the slab and the button next to it. "Let's press it!" She suggested as she went on and press the button, much to her friend's surprise.

"NORA!" The exclaimed, but the button was already pressed. A small quake occurred and the lock door at the far end of the hallway lit up and opened.

"Ah! The door opened!" Panther realized.

"I almost thought we'd end up fighting, you scared us, Nora!" Rouge stated as Nora laughed weakly in response.

"I suppose this is the first step in this process? The next device must be beyond this point." Fox assumes.

"Still... what's up with these things? Are they because of Futaba's mental state?" Rouge wonders.

"It's hard to say. But it does prove that she might not be as simple a target as we were hoping she'd be..." Mona guesses.

I wonder about the meaning behind those slabs as well..." Blanc mentions

"Well, our path's open now, let keep going, shall we?" Blaze suggested.

Number of Shadows barred their way even traps that prevented their passage. But yet,they effortlessly pushed on through. They even discovered another puzzle and solved it afterwards. "You think that did anything?" Nora wondered.

"One way to find out." Joker stated as he pressed the button.

Soon to follow, a larger quake shook. "Whoa, what's going on!? This is a stronger reaction than anything up to this point." Mona shook his head around to notice any changes.

"Guys, look!" Queen pointed up as they saw the same boulders in the opening, rolling in a line in the same direction to where the boulders go.

"Aren't those giant boulders rolling down the corridor?" Mona asked as the boulders kept rolling one after another.

"Dude, they ain't stoppin'! Is this gonna be ok!?" Skull questioned.

"I can imagine that the boulders might start breaking into that gap..." Rook assumes nervously.

"Hmm..." Joker pondered as he pressed the button again, thus the quake went silent... until it the number of boulders rolling into view started to roll faster all of a sudden.

"That just made it worse!" Blanc yelled in a panic.

"Let me try something!" Rouge exclaimed as she pointed Crescent Rose at the button... *BANG* She fired a bullet, shattering the button and its mechanism all together, much to the other's shook

"RUBY/ROUGE!" They yelled at her but soon enough the rolling boulders started to dwindle until they stopped.

"D-Did that do it?" Mona wondered. He then realized that the boulders were going, he check the entrance they went in from and discovered that it was now blocked off... Thus, relaying this to the others.

"The hole collapsed? And with the boulders stuck, that would make trapped, wouldn't it?" Lotus assumes.

"... That is until we find another way." Saber deduces.

"Yeah, with the shaking, there should be another out of this mess. Let's look for-" Rouge suggested but then notices the standing tombstone next to the hold and looks upward to see an opening. "... Found it." She pointed up to the accessible opening.

They climbed up to find out that the boulders were lined up in a messy fashion. "God damn! Talk about a mess!" Skull commented with surprise.

"It's broken... Well, I guess it would be a little more precise to say Rouge broke it." Mona examined the lined-up boulders as Rouge whistled and looked away as everyone else sweat-dropped.

"Ah... well on the bright side... I think we got ourselves a walkway!" Rouge changed subject as she hopped onto a boulder, stiffed in-between the other boulders allowing them a path onward.

They jumped over boulder to boulder until they reached the top of a corner. They jumped off the boulders and continued onward up the corridors until they find themselves in another room with a blank mural, a reflector and its beam of light.

"This is the same machine we saw before..." Rook mentioned as they approached its panel. He started it up as the blank mural lit up, showing the pieces even more scrambled than last time. The only visible parts of the picture they can tell is the crying girl that looks like Futaba and another person in dark blue skin and ash black hair with cat ears, also including a stoplight on red and yellow caution tape plastered in another piece.

"Well... this is hard to tell. You're up Rook." Rouge hollered.

"Give me a sec. I'm a pro at solving puzzles!" Rook responded with pride as he fix the puzzle pieces. And with several flips and sorting, they finally can make out the picture in whole... which didn't looked pleasant to see...

As Futaba looked like she was crying as the Faunus women was jumping in front of a car.

"What the... Did her mom jumped in front of a car...?" Blaze wondered in shock.

"Could this be the moment when Futaba's mother committed suicide...?" Panther wondered in a sad expression.

They gazed at the portrait of a poor sight until another voice echoe into the room.

 **"... F-Futabaaa..."** the distorted voice wailed. **"... Y-You... aaaaaaare..."**

As the group tried to make out what the voiuce was, the reflective mirror rotated the beam of light towards the mural as it instantly revealed the door of the Grand Stairway.

"So... she died right in front of Futaba's eyes." Skull stated in disgust.

"That's... that's horrible." Rouge uttered in distraught.

"So... was she trying to repress those memories because of her desire...?" Saber wondered.

"Let's keep moving." Joker nonchalant stated as they agreed to continue the infiltration.

The next room the entered was a large one with a pair of huge sculptures before them. "Ah, what wonderful form. Seeing such divine sculptures in person is exceedingly rare." Fox stated.

"Yeah, I guess you prolly wouldn't be seein' anything like this shit if we weren't in a Palace." Skull somewhat agreed.

"Seriously. This almost feels like a trip abroad or something." Panther added as the Beacon Student would say otherwise, considering that they ARE on a trip abroad.

"Hey, now's not the time to be letting your guard down. I can sense a lot of Shadows ahead!" Mona stated.

They surveyed the area pressed further and dealt with more Shadows on the way, going up, down, and through the maze-like corridors. Even launching another Batista at a wall in order to reveal another area that has a reflective mirror.

Double-backing into the corridors, they find a way to arrive at the room with a statue in the center that's also filled with Shadows to slay. They eventually find themselves on a cliff with a stone pedestal on it. "Hey, isn't this the same thing for those gems earlier?" Rook questioned.

"There could another shining gem in the area. Let's take a look." Queen suggested.

They backtracked once more into the room with the statue again. "We didn't check these doors over here, have we?" Saber recalled on the way back. As Rouge and her teammates went to check the door on the opposite side of this room, the Phantom Thieves entered the room filled with coffins, until they discover a coffin with a different design.

"Do you think there's more to this coffin, Joker?" Fox asked.

Joker took a closer look as he pressed a button in and the coffin opened up to reveal another button inside.

"Whoaaa, I can't believe you saw through that trick!" Skull stated with surprise.

"It's all in the perception." Joker replied as he pressed the button.

In the opposite room, the Student Huntsmen were examining every nook and cranny until one of the coffins opened up, revealing a similar button. "Hm? When did this button appear?" Lotus wondered.

"Maybe the others did something i the other room?" Blaze assumes.

"Alright, let's press it!" Nora suggested as she pressed it anyways. Soon enough, the coffin slid back and revealed a secret room with an Anubis statue holding a green glowing gem.

"Ah, hey! It's the gem!" Rouge exclaimed as she went to pick it off the statue. "Okay! Let's meet up with the others!" She said as they head out of the room.

"Rouge, did you guys find something?" Mona asked as they walked out of their room they inspected.

"Yep, some button appeared and we found the gem we needed." Rouge replied as she showed them they gem.

Suddenly, multiple Shadows appeared behind them. "What the- an Ambush!" Rook jumped with horror.

"Even with this number, we'll only cause a huge commotion, retreat!" Mona suggested as they escaped into a corridor.

Soon enough, they returned to the cliff as Rouge placed the gem on the pedestal, causing it to shine bright as a transparent bridge appeared below. "A Bridge?" Blanc stated.

"A pathway of light is quite impressive. It seems we will be able to pass over it." Fox stated.

"It's not gonna disappear while we're crossing it, right? This is a little scary..." Panther assumes with caution.

They jump down the same floor level with the bridge and crossed over it to reach another corridor.

They entered the next room and cleared the Shadows there and proceeded towards another corridor. Eventually they entered another room fill with coffins and they see Shadow Futaba again, standing on a coffin. Rouge was about to enter the room before Skull stopped her by pulling back her hood. "Wait, it'd suck if we had to go hell again 'cause we walked up to her without thinkin' first.

"Hey, we can overcome anything if we work together. Right, Joker?" Rouge turned to the Phantom Thief as he nodded in response.

The all entered the room as they stood before Futaba's Shadow. **"You're late. I thought all of you had died."** Shadow Futaba stated.

"We almost did thanks to you!" Blaze exclaimed with her eyes red.

"Do you really want us to help? You have make up your mind!" Saber demanded.

 **"... I'm not sure. There's not much left at this point though."** Shadow Futaba pondered as she faded out.

"Oh... not again! You guys really gotta stop picking her!" Panther stated as she glared at Blaze and Saber.

"Not intentionally!" Blaze retorted as a shadow appeared before them, followed by several tombs breaking open, an ambush revealing more shadows. "Are you kidding me!?"

"Your short temper has created more work for us..." Fox agreed as Blaze grit her teeth.

"I though I was the only one..." Skull muttered as he and everyone engaged the Shadows while Rouge, Joker, Blaze, and Queen confronted the powerful Shadow in the room.

 **"... WHO DARES INTRUDE UPON THE PEACE OF THIS HOLY GROUND?"** The Shadow questioned loudly. **"THIS IS THE PHARAOH'S TOMB. NONE MAY DISTURB HER SLUMBER."** The Coffin-borne God declared.

"We can't retreat now." Queen grunted. "We'll just have to do this!"

* * *

 ***Keeper of Lust**

"Alright! Let's do this!" Rouge declared as they engaged the Coffin-borne God, Cavern Snakeman, and a Lamia. Suddenly, the Coffin-borne God cast a **Trapped Rat** and transformed Rouge into a rat, leaving only her mask. "C-Chu!? Squeak!" She squeaked.

"Ohmygosh, Sis!" Blaze exclaimed as the Cavern Snakeman swiftly attacked the distracted Huntress with a **Giant Slice** as she manages to evade the swing followed by a **Counter** , pushing the Shadow back as Blaze immediately had Ifreeta cast **Agilao** at it, also causing a burn effect on it.

"If we can hit them at their weakness... but what are their weakness?" Queen wondered as she uses **Diarama** on the rattled Rouge.

"Think it's weak against wind!" Mona suggested as Zorro deals with the other Shadows.

"Alright... Matador!" Joker summons another Persona as it casts **Garula** on the Cavern Snakeman, trapping the Shadow in a cutting whirlwind as the burn effect makes it worst, eventually dissipating the Shadow afterwards. Joker had his Persona cast another **Garula** on the Coffin-borne God, flipping it on its back, leaving the Lamia left standing.

"If I recall, she doesn't like the ice." Blaze pointed out.

Rouge finally overcome her status ailment. "B-Black Frost!" She summoned the Persona as it casts **Bufula** on the Lamia, causing her to freeze up at the same time.

"They're down! Let's take them out!" Blaze suggested at they began an All-Out Attack. They pummeled down the Shadows in a comical smoke and Blaze finished it in a pose. "Going out with a Yang!" She quoted, much to the others' annoyance and confused looks.

The battle ended before it gotten out of hand, even their friends managed to fend off the ambush.

* * *

Afterwards, they regrouped and assess the situation. "Dammit, the hell's up with her!?" Skull growled in irritation.

"Can you guys just try to calm down? Nothing good will come of letting your temper flare up like that." Queen scolded him and Blaze.

"She said 'there's not much left' though. You guys think we're almost there?" Rouge wondered.

"Perhaps." Joker assumes as he takes a closer look at the tomb at the end of the room. He then takes lead, climbing onto of the tomb and climbed further up, revealing an explorable path as everyone else followed suit.

The path lead them to the same room they passed but with lit-up transparent pillars on the same floor they're on, allowing them to traverse over to the other side of the room. Apparently they're traversing over to rooms they were in, but on another side of the same rooms.

They also see another stone pedestal. "Wasn't there something like this before? Like when we had to use that Shining Gem from Anubis?" Freya mentioned.

"We'll need to obtain another one. Maybe there's another one nearby?" Lotus suggested as they continued their infiltration.

"Are you talking about this?" Saber asked as she pulled out the gem they mentioned.

"What the- Whoa! When and where!?" Nora questioned.

"I noticed it shining back in that area where we last saw Futaba's Shadow. I didn't see it until I backed away from a Shadow attack.

"That's incredible." Panther commented.

"And convenient. Alright, put it on the pedestal." Mona stated as Saber placed the gem on the said pedestal. A minor shake and another transparent bridge appeared on their floor.

"Hm, this sight brings a tear to my eye yet again!" Fox complimented.

"You're so freakin' weird, dude..." Skull sighed as they proceeded. they followed to where the beam of light was aimed at, through another corridor and to the same room after with a beam of light shining towards an opening to where they're suppose to go into.

They entered the same room of where the giant statues were in. "Was someone still working on these statues all the scaffolds are still there." Lotus wondered.

"Not to mention the beam of light in reflected... all over the area..." Rook added as they see the beam of light being reflected through different angles.

"Maybe there's another room around here. We can still climb onto the scaffolds, so mind your footing." Queen stated as they climbed up onto the scaffolding and the statue, revealing that the beam of light is directed towards another corridor in front of them. After everyone climb over the statue, they continued upwards towards where the beam of light is going.

Soon enough, they arrived at another room with a reflector and a blank mural. "Another mural, huh? Do your thing, Rook." Mona commanded as Rook started up the mural as it showed scattered pieces of a picture.

"Wait, what!? I can't even begin to tell what this one is." Panther exclaimed.

"... This shouldn't a problem." Rook said with confident as he began fixing the picture. It took him a few minutes to piece back all the pieces together, revealing the whole picture; Futaba pulling on her mother's clothes who's face was calm and smiling. "There we go!" He stated.

"A child pulling on her mother's clothes?" Saber theorized.

 **"... Mom..."** A Girl's voice echoed to the group. **"I'm... I'm tired of eating dinner alone all the time. It's always just convenience store bentos. I wanna go somewhere. Take me on a trip!"**

"Futaba..." Rouge muttered.

 **"Don't be so selfish! You know I'm working hard to support you, right?"** A Young Woman's voice rung as she grunted in annoyance.

"Dammit...Shut it!" Blaze grunted as she slam her knuckle on the mural, literally breaking down the wall.

"Whoa, Blaze!" Skull exclaimed.

"I know...! I know..." Blaze felt disgusted be what that voice said in response, her curled up fist were well shown to her friends.

With the wall and the mural out of the way, the beam of light shine upon a door of the Great Stairway.

"That woman... She seemed pretty angry." Queen mentioned.

"Was that the maternity neurosis the voice from earlier mentioned?" Blanc wondered.

"I thought it was pretty normal for a kid to want to spend time with their parents though... She was lonely, wasn't she?" Rouge said with sentimental thoughts of her own.

"So these incidents compounded, forcing her mother to suicide...?" Fox assumed.

"What a load of bull!" Blaze exclaimed in irritation as the group turned to her.

Rouge: "Yang-"

"Even if she acted like a brat, there's no way a mom would... would... Grrrr...!" Blaze growled upset.

 **"... I must die."** Shadow Futaba declared as she appeared out of nowhere.

Rouge: "Futaba?"

 **"I acted like a brat and I killed her... that is why I'm here in this tomb..."** Shadow Futaba stated.

"Hey, don't say that!" Rouge retorted, but Futaba's Shadow shook her head.

 **"I will die..."** The Shadow continued as she faded away.

"Futaba-chan!" Panther called out to her with no avail.

"Why'd she get so quiet all of a sudden? What happened to that snarky personality!?" Sukll asked out loud.

"Could her heart perhaps be growing weaker?" Fox wonders.

"We have to hurry and save her!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Yeah, can't have her suffering like this Blaze agrees as they both jumped down to the stairs first.

"Those two seemed really invested in this, aren't they?" Mona wondered.

"It's... probably because, they went through what Futaba's going through right now." Saber mentioned, recalling what Yang told her, much to the Phantom Thieve's surprise, even their Huntsmen friends as well.

"Wait, you sayin' that those two-" Skull was trying to asked, but Blanc interrupted.

"Not right now we have someone to save." Blanc stated as she and Saber followed them down. Despite the Phantom Thieve's bewilderment, they soon followed them to the door. As it opens they soon find themselves in front of another locked door, this time with caution tapes and a "Private, Do not enter" plate.

"Hey, this ain't openin'... Think there's a way to open is somewhere else?" Skull wondered as he inspects the door.

"Say... isn't this door like the one for Futaba's room?" Rouge wondered.

"Yeah, I figured it looked familiar." Mona agreed.

"But why isn't it opening? Do we need a key or something?" Blanc asked, crossing her arms.

"I afraid not. It must be her cognition that no one can enter it." Mona explained.

"Her... cognition?" The Huntsmen asked.

"Considering this door is similar to the real-world door, there's a trick to open it in another way." Mona added. "We need the real Futaba to open her door to her room, so that the door here will unlock. To be blunt, Futaba will have to invite us into her room in reality, changing her cognition that this door is 'unopenable' to 'openable'." Mona explained.

"So the door here will open on its own when we open the door to Futaba's room? I guess that makes some sense." Rook summarized.

"I can tell that this is complicated to you guys, so don't sweat the details." Panther assured.

"Then... should we return to reality to do this?" Saber wonders until they all felt a familiar presence behind them.

 **"I'm surprised that you all made it this far."** Shadow Futaba commented as the group turns to her. **"Beyond lies the Pharaoh's Chamber."** She mentioned.

"So the treasure's through here?" Rouge asked as she walks towards her.

 **"Indeed. However you need my permission to open this door."** Shadow Futaba said.

"Then open it for us." Skull requested.

 **"I cannot."** Her Shadow denied. **"You must have her invite you in."**

"'Her'? Isn't Futaba aware of this...?" Blaze assumed right.

"What the eff. Ain't this your Palace?" Skull questioned.

"What does that mean, Mona?" Panther asked.

"This Shadow is Futaba, but not Futaba herself. It's exactly what you guys mean when you guys said that Futaba is not aware of any of this." Mona told them.

"So we need the real Futaba's permission and have her open her room and let us in?" Rouge assumes.

As Mona nodded, Shadow Futaba glance her eyes at Rouge and Blaze as they lok back at her with questionable looks. **"I have to ask. Why are you two invested in helping me?"**

The sisters said nothing. Losing a mom in a way and all. "Because we can relate. Losing a mom, we can tell it's devastating." Blaze stated much to everyone's shock.

"Shit..." Skull stuttered. They realized that Ruby and Yang went through the same thing Futaba's going through.

 **"I see... Considering that you all made it all the way here, you should be able to do it..."** Shadow responded as she faded away.

"Looks like we'll have to return to reality once." Panther suggested.

"But I remember Boss saying that she won't let anyone in." Queen mentioned.

"Right. She's a serious shut in." Skull recalled.

"How are going to convince her to allow us in anyways?" Nora questioned.

"Standing around here won't help. We'll just have to give it a try... That's what she want's after all." Queen stated.

"If it goes south, we may have to force ourselves in." Blaze agrees.

"Someone's sure stoked about this..." Baffled Skull at Blaze's idea.

"And we have no choice but to sneak in again." Fox added.

"Alright. Joker, Rouge, it's your guy's call when we do this." Blanc stated as they both nodded in response.

"Yeah, we'll think of something." Rouge assured.

"Oh, reminds me. Gimme the calling card. The one Alibaba sent us." Skull asked.

"What are you going to do with it?" Fox wondered as Joker gave him the calling card.

"We're the Phantom Thieves, you know? We gotta announce this." Skull reminded him. "If the treasure's there when we get the room open, givin' this to her will let us take it right away. Queen, help me think of what to write."

"I suppose..." Queen accepts as Lotus nods in agreement.

They all agreed to start this tomorrow, so they decide to call this a day.

* * *

8/06 **Granbell Hotel** Evening

Eventually Team RWBY and Team JNPR managed to return to their rooms before Seta had the chance to wonder where they were. Soon enough, they were contacted by their friends a in chat on their scrolls.

 _"Calling card's ready!"_ Ryuji declared.

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed, drawing attention from her friends. "Ryuji said the calling card's ready." She relayed the message

"That was fast..." Weiss responded.

"I mean, didn't they do this the last time?" Nora recalled.

"I bet Niijima did most of the work." Blake denied.

 _" So we got the card, you think we can start immediately tomorrow? What about how we get into getting into Futaba's room?"_ Ruby texted.

 _"What's the rush?"_ Ryuji replied.

 _" We only have a few days until we leave the city. We're still on a trip and we were heading to another town in the Kingdom."_ Weiss also texted in the chat.

 _"Ohhhh... right..."_ Ryuji recalled.

 _" That's the idea. We all want to save her. None of us has any plans, so let's do this tomorrow."_ Akira suggested.

"Guess we got something to do tomorrow." Yang stated as they all agreed to take a break for the night.

* * *

Some time later, Yang came out of the washroom as she looks over to where her teammates are sleeping. _"Now that I think back, Yu is Ruby's cousin...?"_ Yang pondered as she recalls the heist in Gaius's Palace. That place revealed their relations. _"And our moms were attending the same school during that time..._ Ugh..." She decided to take a walk outside.

Leaving the elevator, Yang was considering to head to a bar she recalls until someone hollered her. "Funny, I'm pretty sure it IS past your bedtime, Yang-chan." Seta mentioned as Yang, staggered by surprise as she see her Teacher looking at papers on a coffee desk. It looked like she was finishing up paperwork to Yang.

"P-Professor! Jeez, you scared me!" Yang exclaimed as the staff nearby glance by the ruckus, but then minded their own business.

"Sit with me, you look like you need questions answered, from me?" Seta assumed. despite her eyelids looked always shut. "... And before you ask, it's my Semblance, Reinforcement." She explained. "I have the ability to increase or 'Reinforce' an object's mass by concentrating my eyes on sight on my target." She explains as she open her eyes, revealing her daunting black cold dull eyes.

Yang: "Whoa, Holy Shi-"

"Language!" Seta state verbally as she stop Yang from completing that sentence. "That's the side effect. My eyes are not a pleasant sight." She sighed as she closed her eyelids. "I was incredibly insightful before I met Souji-kun, Summer-chan, Tai-kun, Qrow-kun, and Raven-chan... Every time Raven-chan picked a fight with me, she could never beat me for some reason." She chuckled.

Yang remained silent, as she figured that that is what she wanted to talk about with her. "So... you know my Mom personally?" Yang guessed.

"Like a distant memory, yes. Where she is now, no." Seta shook her head. "After hearing that she left poor Tai-kun, I can tell it wounded him badly. Summer-chan's... disappearance... did not help him and Souji-kun better." She reminiscence with pained smile.

"Sorry about bringing it up." Yang apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Seta shook her head. "I'm glad to know that we mothers bore determine children. At the same time, I fear for you and Ruby-chan, and not just Yu-kun.

"I see... Thanks for telling me. Still those eye of yours, what the heck, can't you turn turn them off?" Yang asked.

"Unfortunately, I've always had them the moment I was born. My best way to keep them off is to have my eyes shut. Best way to seal the intimidation." Seta smiled. "Now... I only hope that this doesn't give you nightmares." She pointed Yang back towards the elevator.

"R-Right. G'night... 'Auntie' Seta." Yang responded as she walked back to the elevator.

Seta watched her as she went back into the elevator. _"... It feels like I'm one of those Helicopter Moms..."_ She thought in disgust as she returns to her paperwork.

* * *

8/07 **Cafe Leblanc** Daytime

The Beacon Students arrived at the Phantom Thieves' Hideout as they go over the infiltration plan.

"So, when're we gonna charge into Futaba's room? There's no point thinkin' it over now." Said Ryuji.

"This'll be different from past cases. We'll be handing the calling card directly to Futaba herself. Once we give it top her, we'll head straight into her Palace." Morgana explained.

"So... one shot, only then, right?" Ruby mentioned.

"Yeah, there won't be any time to prep work in between. I hope you guys are prepared before hand." Morgana asked.

They all nodded as Yang yawned. "We'll be fine. You guys got Pro-Huntsmen with you guys." She gave a thumbs up.

"Looks like it's my turn to unlock the entrance. Forgive me, Chief." Morgana apologized as they all followed the cat to the Sojiro entrance.

"So how will we convince Futaba to let us into her room though? Even boss is forbidden entry." Fox asked as they left the cafe, out of Sojiro's earshot.

"Well... we came into the house last time... maybe Mr. Sojiro forgotten to unlock the door again?" Ruby assumes as some of the students sweat-drops.

"Our best course of action is to be honest with her, even if it's quite straightforward. Futaba doesn't know what we're doing inside her Palace, correct. Hence, if we tell her we've come to steal her heart, she'll surely open and let us inside." Makoto explained.

"... That's it?" Weiss asked.

"Futaba want's to have a change of heart. After all, she contacted us for the express purpose. That desire should lead her to open the door as well." Makoto added.

"Yeah... our feeling should get through if we just try and talk with her." Jaune agreed.

"I believe in Futaba, let's settle this at once." Pyrrha declared as they all nodded.

* * *

8/07 **Sakura Residence** Daytime

At the same time, the young Faunus girl was fiddling with her Cell Scroll until she notice an app. "An eyeball...? What's this? When did this get on here...?" She wondered. She suddenly saw her Shadow self appear out of nowhere, startled by her appearance. Wh-Who're are you...?" She asked.

 **"I am the other you."** Shadow Futaba introduced.

"Is... this some kind of hallucination? It's different from usual..." Futaba wondered.

 **"How long will you continue blaming yourself and shutting yourself away from the world?"** Her Shadow questioned.

"Blaming myself for what...?" Futaba asked.

 **"For your mother's death."** Shadow Futaba answered. Her real self looked away in response. **"Don't you think it's time you grasped the truth of that moment? What happened before your eyes... What happened to your mother..."** She added.

"The truth...?" She stuttered.

 **"Why did you choose to rely on the Phantom Thieves and why did you involve those foreign Huntsmen?"** Her Shadow added.

"That's..." The young girl stammered.

 **"Are you simply going to shut yourself in and do nothing? Are you going to avert your eyes from the true answer?"** She added as her real self looked distressed. **"If so... I will kill them in your world."** She declared as she disappeared.

"... I-I... What should I do...?" Futaba question until she staggered when she heard knocking on her door.

"Hello, Futaba? You're there, aren't you? Please answer us." Makoto asked from the outside.

* * *

At the same time outside Futaba's room, the group arrived, hoping they can get through to her. "We're sorry for sneaking in so many times, boss." Makoto apologized.

"This is door's definitely like the one in her Palace." Nora noted.

"Hello, Futaba? You're there, aren't you? Please answer us." Makoto asked.

"I doubt she'd answer..." Morgana sighed.

"Heya Alibaba! We need your help with something and has to do with changing your heart. Wanna chat through our scrolls?" Ruby asked plainly, waving her scroll as her scroll vibrated.

 _"You should've told me you guys were coming."_ Alibaba told her.

 _"We've hit a snag, there's something we need you to do for us."_ Ruby texted.

Alibaba: _"Like what?"_

"In order for us to steal your heart, we need you to open this door. We can't change your heart otherwise." Makoto stated.

 _"Please let us in."_ Ruby pleaded on her chat."

 _"What!? I'm not mentally prepared!"_ Alibaba exclaimed in response.

 _"You have to do this, so we can help with your heart."_ Ruby added.

 _"That's easy for you to say..."_ Alibaba stated with dissent.

"The other you within your heart told us to have you open it. Deep down, you want to open this door, don't you?" Makoto assumed.

Alibaba: _"The other me?"_

"Right. We're trying to uphold our promise, but you're the one resisting us." Makoto explained.

 _"... Can you give me some time?"_ Alibaba asked.

"Ten seconds." Makoto stated seriously.

 _"That's too short! At least a minute, Please!"_ Alibaba implored.

"Fine. But if Boss comes home, we'll kick down the door and enter if we must." Makoto warned.

"Yikes..." Jaune muttered as Pyrrha giggled in humor.

* * *

A minute passed as they waited for Futaba's response. "Time's up, Alibaba." Makoto declared.

 _"Alright, I'll open it now."_ Alibaba assured.

"We need to change her cognition. Better to be completely safe than sorry." Makoto stated.

"So she has to be the one to invite us in?" Ren wondered.

"Futaba please open the door." Makoto demanded as the door creaked open a little.

"All right, let's go in." Ruby declared as she went in first.

When they entered Futaba's room, all they see were books and papers all over the floor, even trash bag on the side. "What are these...?" Blake wondered. Some of their friends peeked from outside the room due to how cramped it looked.

"These are all technical books..." Weiss stated as she translated one of them. "How to hack old-school scrolls for dim-...? I can't believe they're calling our tech 'old-school'!" She exclaimed in offense.

"She keeps herself cooped up in room like this all the time...?" Ann realized.

"... Wait, where's Futaba?" Ruby asked as they looked around.

"Is she hiding?" Ryuji assumes until they hear a knock coming from her closet.

"She'll shut herself in to the bitter end, hm?" Yusuke sighed.

"Even if that door's opened up, we'll get stopped again inside." Morgana meowed. "I bet a fence or something formed right in front of the Treasure now."

"Th-This makes not sense! Explain yourselves!" Futaba demand in her stutter. She was conversing through her closet.

"Whoa, she talked..." Ryuji gasped.

"We needed to change your cognition. Unless we do so,we can't steal your heart." Makoto explained.

"Do you really think she'll understand what we're saying?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"I highly doubt it, even if we explained it to her..." Yusuke agreed with her.

"... So basically, my cognition is being a hindrance, keeping you away from the core of my cognitive world?" Futata summarized, much to their surprise.

"She... understood that?" Yang realized, as she couldn't figure that out herself.

"Why do you know about that? Who are you?" Makoto asked, being surprised.

Futaba didn't responded so they continued with the questioned. "Why'd you call yourself Alibaba and make this more complicated?" Ryuji questioned. "If you wanted help, you could've just asked for it." As he said his question, all they heard was stuttering. "Huh? M-My bad. I didn't quite hear that."

"... 'Cause I was embarrassed." Futaba groaned.

"I think I get it. Asking someone for help isn't that easy..." Ann assured.

"So... Futaba... What's this about the cognitive world? Can ya tell us more?" Ruby asked.

"... 'Cause I knew about it." Futaba answered with exasperated tone.

"Makes sense to me." Ruby nodded as the others sweat-dropped.

"No it doesn't." Ruby's teammates denied.

"Come to think of it, did Mr. Sakura said something about 'cognition' before?" Ren recalled.

"You think this is related to how he was gettin' grilled by Makoto's sister?" Ryuji guessed as she groaned about the fact.

"... Maybe her mother was researching this cognitive science that was brought up?" Ruby assumed.

"Cognitive psience with a PSI in front! Less science, more supernatural. That's important." Futaba corrected quickly.

"We'll that certainly got her attention... It seems we're on the right track." Yusuke confirmed.

"So, cognitive... psience? Futaba, what was your mother working on?" Makoto asked as Futaba didn't give any response. "Please tell us, what happened?"

"She's not answering." Yusuke said.

"... Should we do this later? She seems to have gone through a lot in the past..." Yang pondered about her feelings.

"She said things like 'die' after all..." Blake agreed.

Ruby then stood in front of the closet, hoping to reach out to her. "Futaba. Did you really kill your mom?" Ruby bluntly questioned, much to the other's surprise.

"Ruby...!" Weiss exclaimed silently.

"Wasn't her death some kind of accident? What happened really?" Ruby continued sternly. "This... 'maternal... rosis... is that even a thing?" She added.

"Ruby..." Yang muttered, assuming that her younger sister knows what she's doing.

"It's 'Maternity Neurosis'." Makoto corrected.

"Yeah, that!" Ruby agreed as she continued. "We saw what your heart's like, but we still can't figure anything out. Your mom that Mr. Sakura said is completely different from your cognition thing. We want to hear it from you, the truth. Please..." She begged.

"... M-My mom... was... The one who killed her... was... Nngh...!" Futaba muttered and could speak her grammar due to her staggered words.

Ruby: "Futaba?"

"It's possible that she can't remember because her heart has become distorted." Makoto addressed.

"It's that bad?" Nora realized.

"I'm... sorry, Futaba. If anything, I see me and my sister in you, considering we've lost our moms as well-" Ruby apologize until the sliding closet door opened immediately as a hand grabbed Ruby's hand and pulled into a girl's chest.

"Th-There! Now steal it!" Futaba exclaimed as she pressed Ruby's hand on her boob. Random expressions were on the group's face, confusion, amusement, and... ultimately confusion. "C-C'mon, hurry up!" She exclaimed.

"Um... Futaba?" Ruby hollered with her hand touching her chest.

"We... did come to steal your heart, but it's not really done right here at this moment..." Makoto mentioned.

"Y-Yeah, all you needed to do was open that closet door." Ruby reassured, thinking back. "Did you still think we actually rip'm out?"

"I'm... sorry we made you jump to conclusions. You don't have to be like that." Makoto assured.

"I-I see..." Futaba realized what she did as she looks at Ruby and to where her hand was.

"Yeah..." Ruby agrees in a similar case as they both realized the deed being done. Eventually, she released her hand and retreated back into the closet, closing it as well. "Wha- Hey!"

"... Wh-What's the meaning of this, you perv!? Did you guys trick me?" Futaba questioned.

"Perv!? You're the one who grabbed my hand to do that!" Ruby retorted as she stomped her foot. Some of her friends laughed loud.

"Holy shit, that's rich! Hahaha!" Ryuji cackled.

"No! Hey! Please listen! There's a reason we had to do this!" Makoto reassured with Futaba going silent in response.

"She's aware of the cognitive world, but it seems she doesn't understand how a change of heart occurs?" Pyrrha deduced.

"Um, Futaba, how much do you know about the cognitive world?" Makoto asked.

"I know that there's another world based on cognition. But I don't know how to get there." Futaba explained. "Can you guys go there? You said you 'saw my heart' earlier."

"That's correct." Weiss agreed.

"How do you do it?" Futaba asked.

"Oh, we use a app on our scrolls." Ruby answered.

Futaba: "An app?"

"Yes. By entering the required information, we can go to the cognitive world." Makoto added.

"A name, a place, and a distortion-those three." Ryuji followed. "So in this case, 'Futaba Sakura', 'Sojiro Sakura's house', and-"

"Wait, Futaba, you don't happened to have this app, the one with a eyeball with a red background, do you?" Blake halted Ryuji's sentence.

"... I don't." Futaba answered as a few of them gave sighs of relief. "Can you guys take me with you?"

Ruby: "Sure-"

"NO!" Everyone else shot her down.

"Why're you even askin'? Of course she can't come with us." Ryuji muttered.

Ruby: "Aw..."

"I'll leave it to you then..." Futaba stated with her faith in them.

"Good. And you better not forget about our promise, all right?" Ryuji mentioned as they all nodded and headed out, Ryuji forgot something to include to this. "Oh yeah! Almost forgot. The treasure's not gonna appeared if we don't have her read this!" He mentions as he slips the calling card between the closet door's crevice.

"Hm? A calling card?" Futaba notices.

"It's the one you prepared. Read it." Ryuji asked.

"... I can't read it. It's too dark." Futaba mentioned.

"You could just come out..." Ruby suggested.

"... It's embarrassing." Futaba complained.

Ruby/Ryuji: "What...?"

"I'll make sure she reads it. So you guys go on ahead." Morgana assured as every one else left the room.

"Futaba, make sure you read it, okay?" Makoto pleaded as she soon left the room as well.

As soon as the coast was clear, Futaba eventually exits her closet as she begins to read her calling card out loud. "Let's see..."

Futaba Sakura has committed a great sin of drowning in sloth.

Thus, we will rob every last bit of those distorted desires.

Just as she finishes the sentence, her room suddenly distorts and the atmosphere change as her Shadow Self appeared in her place.

 **"No. I'm going to die..."** Shadow Futaba declared monotonously as the atmosphere returned to normal with the real Futaba standing there.

"Good." Morgana meowed as he pounced away, staggering Futaba by surprise.

"K-Kitty! You again!?" Futaba exclaimed.

* * *

8/07 **Distorted Sakura Residence** Daytime

 ***Life Will Change -Instrumental ver.-**

The group returned to Futaba's Palace as they exited Mona's car hopped off Rook's Persona.

"Aw yeah, let's do this!" Blaze roared in declaration.

"The Palace's security level is so high I can feel it from all the way down here..." Panther noted.

"Futaba's Shadow is going to make this difficult." Saber added.

The real Futaba seemed totally up for gettin' her heart stolen... What's up with this?" Skull wondered as he looked around.

"Something about this place really is unusual." Mona agreed. "Either way, there's only one thing for us to do now that's we've sent the calling card!"

"Y-Yeah. No matter what we gotta face, we're gonna take the treasure." Rook continued in agreement as they entered the Pyramid.

* * *

As they arrived at the end of the grand stairway, the locked door began to open up as the green textures descend to reveal a elevator. "All right! It opened!" Rouge cheered.

"Seems like Futaba managed to open the door for us." Blanc agreed.

"Anyways, the Treasure is up ahead! Let's finish this!" Mona declared as they all charged into the next room.

The next thing they was a vastly huge room with a path going up. "So, this is the place that represents Futaba's room." Rouge assumed as she looks out all over the place as it fill with what she thinks is data.

"Yep, this is the heart of a hacker all right." Ryuji nodded. "Anyways, where's the treasure?"

"I'm getting a strong signal from above us. The treasure has definitely manifested." Mona pointed upward.

"There's no knowing what may lie ahead, so let's be vigilant as we push towards the treasure." Queen advise.

They climb the stairs as they see shadows appearing nearby. "Shadows!" Rouge alerted.

"So what's the game plan?" Rook asked.

"We don't have time to deal with these small fries, they'll only reappear in a matter of minutes. We need to make it to the Treasure and get out, fast!" Mona stated the strategy.

"Right, thieves don't often pick fights, do they?" Blanc somewhat agreed as they ran anyways. They only struck the enemy before they could take form and escape the conflict before they're caught. They continued upwards as the avoid the Shadows and dealt with the ones in the way. Diving for cover as the Shadows pass by, knocking them off the floor as they fall into the bottom.

They eventually reach another door as Mona took a closer look at it. "There's no doubt: The Treasure is right past this point." He stated. "No matter what it is, we need to be ready for it!"

"Let's do this!" Joker declared

"We'll save Futaba, that's for sure!" Rouge reassured as they entered the room.

* * *

8/07 **Sakura Residence** Daytime

Back in reality, Futaba was staring at the MetaNav appon her cell scroll. "If I use this, I can change my heart...?" The young Faunus wondered as she opens the app. "Vocal input...? Fu-Futaba Sakura." She stated as the app confirms her input. "Sojiro Sakura's house." She added as she looks down to the last line. "And then... Something about 'distortion'..." She recalls as she mutters it, trying to figure out what her distortion is until several echo of voices started ring in her head. "Not again...!"

 **"You killed her!"**

 **"You're a plague!"**

 **"It's your fault!"**

 **"Your the one who killed her!"**

 **"Murderer!"**

"No!" Futaba screamed as she ran out her bedroom door, looking out in the darkened hallway, realizing something in her memory. "That's right... I remember now. Back when they were here, I-I... messaged 'tomb' in the chat and..." She recalls and reality faintly distorted as her scroll spoke.

 _"Input accepted. Searching for route to destination."_ The MetaNav declared.

"... I can go in now?" Futaba realized as the voices started to rung loudly once more with the Faunus covering her cat ears. "I can't take this any more!"

 _"Beginning navigation."_ The MetaNav stated as it send her into her Palace.

* * *

8/07 **Distorted Sakura Residence** Daytime

The group enters the dark green it room with their arms at ready. It turns out that there were no enemies in sight, not even Shadow Futaba was present.

"The hell? This ain't what I was imaginin'!" Skull complained.

"Were you expecting mountain of treasure or something of that sort?" Fox asked with sarcasm.

"At least there's no enemies in here." Rook sighed with relief.

"There IS that coffin over there." Panther pointed at the coffin in front of them.

"That's all?" Nora wondered with disappointment.

"The treasure must be inside." Queen assumed

"All right. Let's take it make a run for it." Rouge suggested as she and Skull walks towards the tomb.

"T-Treasure...!" Mona stuttered as he eyed the tomb.

But as soon as Rouge placed her hand on to the tomb, the group heard a screech echoing from the outside and shook the ground. The Phantom Thieves and Huntsmen staggered as they point their weapons everywhere.

"What was that!?" Freya questioned.

"There's something here..." Saber added as she uses her animal traits to sense their foe.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Lotus mutters.

Suddenly, something punctured a hole on the pyramid as the sun shine upon the group with the ground gradually start to shake heavily as something appeared looking down on them. **"Fuuuuutaaaaaabaaaaaaa!"** The creature roared with its cold eyes glaring down on them.

 ***Blooming Villian**

"AAAAHHHHH, What the hell is that!?" Rook screamed in horror.

"Is that a Shadow...?" Makoto wondered, as it didn't make any sense. No... Then-"

"That... can't be Futaba...!" Rouge finished as she frantically turns the safety lock on Crescent Rose.

"Don't tell me..." Mona muttered in realization as the creature began to break open the structure. The wind picked up as the debris flew away, as the group realized what they're dealing with, a winged beast with woman's face as the head, with cat ears and glasses.

"Th-This is insane!" Nora exclaimed with shock as the beast blew strong gusts with its wings as the group tries to hold their footing from the strong wind.

"If it's not a Shadow, then what is it!?" Skull questioned.

"It's a... cognition!" Mona answered as he holds himself from flying away. "A monster that Futaba's cognition created!"

"How could that be!?" Queen questioned as one of the pillars cracked off and flew right towards the group.

"Hey, look out!" Skull shouted, as Joker manages to rescue Queen out of the way.

Team JNPR didn't had the chance to react as they were launched off the floor. "Jaune, NO!" Rouge exclaimed as she rushes to the edge of the top hoping the were okay, yet she couldn't see them in the sand cloud below.

"Goddammit, here it comes!" Blaze roared as they engaged the Beast that rules the Palace.

* * *

 **"Do not approach the pharaoh's tomb! Misfortune will fall upon you!"** The Palace Monster roared while flying around the group.

"Ugh, look at it fly about! We can't reach it like this!" Blanc complained as she summons Shiva, casting **Bufula**.

"We've got no other option. Let's take it down with our guns and skills!" Mona suggested as they did that.

Blaze fired from her Ember Celica as the volleys of shot missed due to the range and speed of her bullets, causing Yang to summon Ifreeta to cast **Agilao** and still couldn't hit it. "Are you kidding me!?" Blaze growled.

Joker, Fox, and Rouge used their range weapons and only Rouge was able to deal certain damage to it, with the sniper bullet's velocity to reach its mark as the beast roared.

The Palace Monster retaliated by lunging in slamming it's paws onto the group followed by a swipe at a lot of them. Some of them were pushed back by the force of the impact.

"Goemon, strike!" Fox command his Persona and struck the Beast as Joker sends Arsene to attack as well, yet the beast immediately responds by jumping off and fly away.

"This isn't good. We're sitting ducks out here!" Saber grunted as she also shoots the Beast as it responds with a **Wing Blast** , blowing a strong gust at them.

"Does it even have a weakness?" Rouge questioned as she casts **Sukunda** on it.

"I-I don't know!" Mona retorts as he has Zorra cast **Mediarama** on the group.

* * *

On the surface floor of the pyramid, Rook manages to dig himself out of the sand. "I... though was a goner!" He exclaimed with shook.

"Rook!" Frey called out to him as she along with Lotus and Nora regroup to watch the battle unfold at the top of the pyramid. They hid behind debris as they speculate. "How are we gonna deal with that thing in the air? I mean, I have a grenade launcher, but I don't think it'll go down so easily."

"Unless we have something to fly ourselves, we all still won't be able to pin it down, if not unable to returned to our allies." Lotus stated.

Rook nodded and looked around, when he turned around, he notices that they were near a town. "Rook?" Freya asked.

"Maybe... I think I have an idea..." Rook said to his teammates as they followed him into town.

* * *

Back with the others, they were all using their firearms to gun down the beast as it **Rapid Ascent** upwards into the sky with the clouds covering the beast.

"H-How far did it fly up!?" Rouge questioned as she lowered her weapon. "What's it gonna do!?"

"Don't tell me... Is it gonna dive attack us!?" Mona wondered.

"Let it come! I'll beat its ass before it'll strike!" Blaze roared as they wait for the surprise attack.

Although the Beast wasn't coming down yet, the anticipation was tense. "Damn that beast... when's it gonna strike...!?" Blanc questioned.

"Ugh... it's still not attacking!?" Blaze questioned in anger.

Just then as they drop their guard, the Beast **Sphinx Dive** d the frustrated Huntress as Rouge realized what the enemy's target was. "Yang!" Rouge exclaimed as she pushes her away as the Sphinx Dive, destroyed the floor where Blaze was standing on, with the force pushing everyone back into the debris as Rouge and Blaze were flung off.

"Rouge!/No! Blaze!" Blanc and Saber yelled as the Beast flew off as everyone were in critical condition.

"Ngh... This isn't good." Mona winced in pain. "I can't tell at all when it's gonna attack..."

"What is that suppose to mean!?" Blanc questioned.

"You have to tell us, Mona!" Saber demanded as she continues to fire on the beast.

"I-I can't help it! There are some things that even I can't do!" Mona denied.

The situation was not going in their favor.

* * *

At the same time, Rouge and Blaze were planted head first into the sand. "On the bright side, we didn't land on anything hard..." Rouge grunted in a muffle tone as they dug themselves out. They eventually realize they landed near the entrance of the Palace.

"Okay, let's get back up there. That monster's going down one way or another." Blaze declared.

"I hope our friends can manage." Rouge hoped as they proceeded into the Palace once more.

As they continued their climb once more, they find Futaba wondering ahead. "Futaba!?" Rouge exclaimed as she caught her attention as they caught up. "H-How are you... How did you get in here!?"

"Wha-Who? Wait, are you're the same perv that went into my room?" The Faunus girl asked.

"What!?" Rouge staggered. "I can't believe you're still calling me that!"

"Look, we ARE the same people. But why are you in your heart, it's dangerous in here!" Blaze mentioned.

"So... this is inside my heart...?" Futaba survey the area. "I did't think it'd be like this..."

"Well, you did asked us to steal your heart and but your heart is really complicated..." Rouge tried to make words out.

"What do we do? We can't just take her with us." Blaze whispered to her younger sister.

"Neither can we send her away, there's still Shadow everywhere." Rouge replied silently as they watch Futaba from afar until a huge familiar mural landed in front of her. "Wait, what is this? As Rouge and Blaze caught up to her.

"Isn't this the first Mural we've saw here?" Blaze wondered.

 **"That is correct."** Shadow Futaba answered as she appeared. She then faced her real self. **"Do you remember?"** She asked, pointing at the mural for Futaba to see.

 ***Regret**

"... This is the suicide note... The men in black suits read it right after Mom died..." Futaba explained.

"Futaba..." Rouge muttered with concern.

 **"That's correct. Look at the next one."** Shadow Futaba stated as she show the next mural.

"That one with a car..." Blaze mentioned.

"This... This is... when Mom jumped in front of that car..." Futaba whimpered.

 **"That's right. Now the next."** Her Shadow added as Futaba collapsed in despair.

"Futaba!" Rouge knelt down and aided her along with Blaze, placing their hand on her shoulders.

"No..." Futaba stuttered, looking downwards.

 **"Don't run. I thought you made your mind up after you talked to the Phantom Thieves and Huntsmen."** Her Shadow reminded.

"We're with you. It's all right." Rouge reassured her.

"Okay... I'll look." Futaba complied, looking at the girl puling on a woman's clothes. "It's me complaining. Mom, scolded me for bothering her..." She explained as her Shadow nodded in response. "I knew it. It was me who killed Mom. I was a bad daughter... I weighed her down, and she hated me for it... It's just like I remember..." She whimpered as Rouge and Blaze almost see tears going down.

"There's... There's no way that's true at all..." Rouge denied.

"What the hell...?" Blaze grunted with sympathy.

 **"Are you sure?"** Shadow Futaba questioned as they faced her. **"Remember everything. Don't Avert your eyes. When did this happened?"**

"Just a little before Mom died... I whined about wanting to go on a family trip, but she scolded me and said no." Futaba answered.

 **"Was that all she said?"** Her Shadow added.

"... Mom said 'I'm too busy right now. I need to finish my cognitive research as soon as possible.'" Futaba repeated.

 **"And what did you do?"** Her Shadow continued.

"I threw a tantrum. Told her she thought her research was more important than I was. That's when she scolded me." Futaba explained.

 **"What did she say afterwards? There was more."** Her Shadow included.

"... Did she say...? 'My research is almost over. Once it's finished, we can go wherever you like. I'm sorry I've left you alone for so long, Futaba. Please try to understand though. This research is really important. I need to complete it, even if it costs me my life'." Futaba stated

"Did... she hate you?" Rouge asked.

"She didn't...?" Futaba realized something in her conflicted mind as she then looks upwards to see the mural shining. "Wh-What? She smiled...?" She muttered as her head started to hurt. "Agh! My head it hurts... Which is true...?" She gasped as she pressed her head.

"Futaba!" Rouge and Blaze exclaimed.

 **"Your memory is..."** Shadow Futaba walked away in the direction of the treasure is, fading out at the same time.

Soon after, they hear a screech in a distance. "Huh? It's calling me...?" Futaba muttered.

"Oh, that's right! The others are still in danger!" Blaze realized.

"I don't think leaving Futaba back at this moment is safe." Rouge confirmed. "Stick with us, all right?"

"O-Okay." The Faunus girl nodded as they made their way towards the treasure room once more.

* * *

Back with the remaining Phantom Thieves, they finally depleted their ammo, leaving them defenseless for any counter attacks. "No..." Saber muttered.

"The hell!? We ain't doin' shit to it!" Skull growled.

"Hey! You guys okay!?" Rouge asked as she and Blaze returned to the group.

"Rouge! Saber! We thought the worst happened!" Saber exclaimed as they were baffled by who came after them.

"Huh? Futaba!?" Queen gasped. "You came into your cognitive world!?"

"Believe me, we were as shocked as you guys are." Blaze assured.

"The person themselves coming into their own Palace...? If that happens..." Mona muttered his thoughts.

The beast howled as it got the group's attention, especially Futaba's. "That's..." But as she took a step closer, menacing voices rung clearly that everyone nearby heard it.

 **"You killed her!"**

"No..." Futaba muttered in fear as the world distorts around her.

 **"Why don't you say something!?"**

Futaba collapsed as Rouge tries to help her. "Futaba!"

 **"It's your fault!"**

"It's my fault... It's my fault that Mom..." Futaba muttered.

As queen checks her condition, the Beast roar its speech. **"That's right. You killed me!"** The Palace Beast declared as it lunges at them. Blaze summons Ifreeta to hold it back. Yet that wasn't the group's surprise.

"... What!?" Blanc stated.

"Wait, is that monster her mother!?" Fox realized.

"Futaba's desires and guilt must've distorted her cognition of her." Mona assumes. "The wish that her mother was alive again is mixed in as well, along with those eerie jeers..."

"Oh, Futaba..." Rouge grunted in sad tone.

 **"You are nothing but a demon who stood in my way! I wish you had never been born! That way I could've announced my results without having to waste my time on you!"** The Palace Beast known as Cognitive Wakaba Isshiki, pressed down on Ifreeta who was preventing the beast from attacking. **"I poured my heart and soul into the research! It would've been the discovery of the century!"**

"Shut up!" Blaze roared as Ifreeta pushes the beast away, followed by and **Agilao**.

"What did she mean by that?" Queen wondered.

"Could she be talking about cognitive psience?" Mona assumed.

 **"You're going to die! There's no meaning to your life No one needs you!"** Cognitive Wakaba roared as she dodges Blaze's **Maragi**.

"Shut the hell up!" Blaze roared in response.

"Nobody cares about me..." Futaba muttered.

"Futaba! That's not true!" Rouge exclaimed as voices rung out once more.

 **"I should have never have had Futaba... She was always such a bother..."**

 **"It seems you caused your mother a great deal of trouble, Futaba-chan..."**

 **"She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis..."**

Futaba started to have a splitting headache as the voices continued to ring. Even worst when visions of her mother writhing in pain appeared in her eyes.

 **"Aaagh... Agh...!"**

 **"... F-Futabaaaa..."**

 **"... Y-You... aaaaareeeeee..."**

"Futaba! You got to stop listening to those voices!" Rouge pleaded.

"Hey, we're gonna be in deep shit if this keeps up!" Skull reminded them as Blaze continues to fire at the beast.

"So because she thinks she killed her mother and because she thinks she deserves to die... Futaba gave birth to a Palace where her mother want's her dead...?" Queen theorized. Rouge and Blaze were disgusted to hear it as facts.

"Futaba-chan, look! There's no way that monster is your mother! It's just an illusion you created!" Panther explained.

Futaba: "B-But...!"

"Your Mom didn't abused you did she!? Mr. Sakura said that she did her best to raise you herself!" Blaze exclaimed as a **Agilao** connected with her target.

"Isn't this a false memory that's been imprinted upon you?" Saber questioned as the Beast attempted to swipe at her but Saber jumped over an sling her Gambol Shroud at it.

"A false memory...?" Futaba tried to recall, but she winced in pain as voices continued to ring.

 **"You made you mother destroy all her research, Futaba-chan..."**

 **"She worked so hard on it as well..."**

 **"She lost her mind, and it's all because of you..."**

"M-Mom... I-I..." Futaba stammered.

"SHUUUT UUUUUUP!" Blaze screamed furiously as she charged at the diving Cognitive Wakaba, slamming her fist in the Beast's face as it made it stumbled over to the side.

"Yang...?" Blanc asked with surprise as Blaze huffed heavily as she then turned around to tears coming out of her red eyes. Everyone, even Futaba looked to her with baffled eyes.

"Dammit, Futaba, you have to remember!" Blaze exclaimed as she wipes her tears off as she continues to scout over Cognitive Wakaba who was still flying in a dazed state.

 **"You're the reason she committed suicide. You were just getting in the way of her research."** Shadow Futaba appeared to many surprised looks while her Shadow looks down to her. **"Why did you think it was suicide?"**

"... Because of the note." Futaba answered in despair.

 **"Exactly. The men in black suits read her suicide note to you, and what was written on it?"** Her Shadow continued.

"All of her complaints... about me." Futaba replied.

 **"Yes. The shock and pain led you to avert your eyes. But they kept reading it aloud in front of your relatives."** Her Shadow added.

Just then, a warm hand perched on her shoulder as Ruby tries to comfort her. "Futaba. Was that suicide note real? Would your mother you love so much truly wrote any of that?" She asked.

"Do you really think she'd ever say that horrid crap at you?" Yang also questioned as she stood at her side.

 ***Swear to My Bones**

A moment of thinking clearly, Futaba realized who her Mother truly was. "No... She scolded me whenever I had tantrums, but she cared for me!" She stated with revelation while standing back up.

 **"Then what about the suicide note?** " Shadow Futaba questioned.

"A total lie!" Futaba declared.

 **"You were used! They forged her suicide note and laid the blame of her death on you! They trampled all over your young heart! Get mad! Don't forgive those rotten adults!"** Shadow Futaba demanded, pointing her finger at her real self with conviction.

"It's because I couldn't face myself, or mom's death... Even then, why did they have to yell at me like that!?" Futaba questioned as her expressed feelings

Futaba stumbled as Rouge caught her as she stood back up. "You okay?" Rouge asked.

Suddenly another jolt of pain stabbed her as a monotone voice rung out.

 _ **"What denies you is an illusion... A curse put upon you by the heartless... You knew from the beginning... And yet, you cowered in fear..."**_ The Mysterious voice echoed calmly.

"Ngh... That's right. I knew but I..." Futaba muttered as a giant paw appeared followed by Cognitive Wakaba lifting herself up

 **"It's all your fault...! This time, you'll be the one to die!"** Cognitive Wakaba declared as a pink explosion blasted the Beast by it's side.

They see where those explosions come from and they see Team JNPR with Odin galloping in their air and Rook and Freya riding together with Lotus and Nora gliding on a make-shift chariot with wings. "Over here, you overgrown bird!" Nora exclaimed as they lured the Palace Beast away from the main group.

"They're... okay!" Blanc stated with impression.

 _ **"Will you die as you are told...? Who are you going to obey?"**_ The Mysterious Voice continued. _ **"Cursed words spat out by a seething illusion? Or the truth within your own soul?"**_

 **"It's your fault! It's all your fault!"** Cognitive Wakaba declared as she chases Team JNPR in the sky.

Futaba assured Rouge as she stood on her own despite her mild headache. "I won't let those distorted lies deceive me anymore... And I won't be led astray by other's voices either. I'm going to trust my own eyes and my own heart to distinguish the truth from the lies." She declared as she and the Palace Beast trade eyes at each other. "There's no way you're my mom! You're just a fake created by those horrid adults!" Cognitive Wakaba grits her teeth very hard as she dives at the group as they brace for impact, but Futaba stood her ground. "I'll... I'll never... I'll NEVER forgive them!" She shouted as Team JNPR flew over the group and intercepted the Palace Beast, by Nora slamming Magnhild in the face blowing the Palace beast away while drawing its attention back to Team JNPR.

Just then, the determined Futaba glowed as her Shadow dissipated into the light, transforming into a flying saucer, with a gargoyle in top, floating above Futaba.

"What... is that?" Panther wondered as the flying saucer let out tentacles, wrapping its arms on Futaba as it somewhat abducts Futaba.

Futaba stutters as they group watches her being lifted into the saucer. "How lewd." Blaze joked as Queen and Blanc sweat-dropped with dumbfounded expressions were pointed at her.

Within the darkness inside the saucer, the Mysterious Voice echoes to them. **_"Contract... I am thou, thou art I... The forbidden wisdom has been revealed."_** The Voice stated. _**"No mysteries... No illusions shall deceive you any longer."**_ The voice declared while Futaba opened her eyes to see all the data around her, even pressing a screen as well.

"Futaba, are you okay!?" Rouge Queen called out to her.

 _"I'm all right!"_ Futaba answered through the Persona Link.

"Look at that..." Mona said with awe.

"You good to go, Futaba?" Blaze asked.

 _"Yeah, Please help me!"_ Futaba requested. _"That's gotta go!"_ She stated as she scanned Cognitive Wakaba while she's in pursuit of Team JNPR.

Rouge nodded in response and Blaze grinned with confident. "Second Wind, everyone!" She declared as they ready themselves.

* * *

 ***Will Power**

They observe Cognitive Wakaba as Team JNPR are doing what they can to distract the Cognitive Beast.

"So... what can we do to take her down?" Rouge asked.

"This is my heart's world, right? Hacking into my distortion should be no problem for me! Necronomicon, over here!" Futaba stated as she guide her Persona and distorts an object behind the team, revealing a ranged siege weapon.

"A-A ballista!?" Mona staggered with surprise.

"Shoot it down with this, then beat the crap out of it!" Futaba suggested as she hovers around.

"... I have a good aim. Blaze, with me!" Rouge stated as they both rush towards the Balliasta while contacting Team JNPR. "Rook, can you hear me?"

* * *

"Ru-Rouge!? We can here you? How?" Rook questioned while his was racing as the Palace Beast still gave chase.

 _"Thanks to Futaba! Listen, I have an idea. When I say when, lead her to us, we got something to ground it!"_ Rouge stated. _"After that leave the ground assault to the rest of us!"_

"Got it!" Rook agreed as the team continues the distraction, firing their rounds.

* * *

"Change directions, aim the tip in the center!" Rouge stated as Blaze spun the lever to make the ballista's direction.

"Even if we managed to shoot it down, we may need to pin down some how." Saber mentioned as Joker notices stone pillars that broke off and gotten an idea of his own.

They see Lotus using **Tempest Slash** and Cognitive Wakaba retaliating with a Wing Blast. Nora continued to shoot grenade at her as the Palace Beast relentlessly continue its pursuit. **"I don't need a child to who defies me! And children I don't need... should be killed!"** She shout as she nearly slammed her paw into the chariot, unstabilizing Nora's balance as Lotus caught from falling.

"Rook, get ready!" Rouge alerted as Rook led the Palace Beast them.

"Adjusting vertical alignment!" Blaze stated. "Ready!" Rouge readied the trigger at the moment and once Team JNPR out of the shot, Rouge fire the bolt at the Palace Beast, leaving a critical damage to its side as the Palace Beast fell right in front of the group.

They all gathered in front of the Palace Beast with their arms at the ready. Cognitive Wakaba roared with energy still in her. **"Nnnnngh...! How dare you...! Children that defy their mothers should... DIE-"** *BANG* The Palace Beast roared in pain as Rouge and Blaze fire a bullet at her.

"Shut up! You're not her mom!" Blaze yelled as she hurled a fist at her.

 _"You're just a monster born from my own weakness..."_ Futaba denied. _"Everyone, keep attacking! Don't let up!"_ She stated.

"You don't need to tell us twice!" Blanc assured as she ts **Bufula** on the Beast, Saber casts Rakunda on the Cognition, rendering it defense to its poorest stated, Skull blasted his entire round of his shotgun, Queen blasted the Beast with **Freila** , Yusuke had Goemon unleash his own **Tempest Slash**.

 **"I'll kill you!"** Cognitive Wakaba growled as it tried to flap is wings, but Rouge jumped onto of her and clipped a wing off, a clean cut as the monster roared in pain as the other wing was clipped off by Soma Picaro.

"For you!" Joker exclaimed as he had Kin-Ki out, lifting a shape broken pillar and stabbed the Palace Beast's paw as it roared in pain.

"Got it!" Nora exclaimed as she jumped off the chariot and slammed her hammer on to the pillar like pounding a nail. The Palace Beast roared with agonizing pain.

"Allow me!" Mona declared as he as Zorro stab the other paw, holding the Beast in place.

Soon after, Blaze had Ifreeta slammed the Beast's head to the ground by pulling the hair on top, followed by Soma Picaro digging her scythe in front of its neck and pulled her back with black liquid leaking out of the wound as it shows its cracked reading glasses with bruises of its face. Choking all the way, she glares at Necronomicon, Futaba specifically. **"Nnngh...! Futaba... Futaba...! If only... I had... never birthed you...!"** Cognitive Wakaba uttered.

Rouge walked up in front of the beast and loaded one sniper bullet into Crescent Rose and pointed direct at Cognitive Wakaba's face, point-blank. "You will never torment her!" Rouge stated loud and sternly.

"No matter what you say to me... I will live!" Futaba declared. "PULL!"

*SLASH* *BANG*

It happened real fast, Soma Picaro decapitated the Cognition and Rouge blasted the head off as the black ooze extinguished away. As soon as the head landed on the sands below the body went limp.

Thus concluding the torment of Futaba's cognition of her mother.

* * *

Team JNPR regrouped with the rest of the group as they were glad that everyone's accounted for. "Sorry for scaring you guys back there, she launched us really far." Rook apologized.

"We were fortunate that the was a nearby town. We were able to use materials to use as a chariot." Freya added.

"Were weren't even expecting to see Odin flying in the air, he was like galloping like it was nothing!" Nora boasted.

"Of course you guys managed to defeat it, and that... execution..." Lotus mentioned.

Rouge giggled as they soon realized they forgot someone. "Oh right! Futaba!" She exclaimed as went to check the exhausted Faunus. They also just realized that she was wearing a costume as well; A skintight black bodysuit with fluorescent neon green glowing strips and matching black boots with neon green soles. Her mask is a pair of big black goggles with orange lenses.

"Damn, you're freakin' incredible!" Skull complimented.

"Can you stand?" Blaze asked as she pulled her up.

As Futaba wiped dust off of her, she soon notices that she is wearing the costume. "Whoa! What in the world!? Ooh! It's totally skin-tight!" She said, checking herself.

"That's the least of our worries." Blanc sighed as a light shine elsewhere.

"Another thing showed up!?" Skull frantically stated as they see a young Faunus woman appeared. Transparent, but is showing a gentle smile.

"Mom!?" Futaba gasped as they all realize who she was.

 _"Futaba. Thank you for choosing to remember the real me."_ Wakaba valued.

"... I'm sorry for being selfish... Mom..." Futaba apologize emotionally as she step towards her.

 _"Don't come over here."_ Wakaba ordered, stopping her daughter. _"This isn't where you're supposed to be, is it?"_

"But I finally got to see you again..." The young Faunus whined.

 _"Are you being selfish again?"_ Wakaba smiled.

She is correct in a way, and Futaba restrained herself a bit. "... Um, I... I love you, Mom." She stated with her emotions backing her.

 _"I love you too, Futaba. Now, you should get going."_ Wakaba reminded her as she disappeared in a white light, fading away.

Futaba took a deep breath as she then recalls a deal that was made. "Oh, right. Medjed." She recalls as she walks away.

"Where are you going?" Queen asked.

"Home. I know how to you the Nav now." Futaba answered simply as walks back down the stairs.

"All right. See you around!" Rouge cheerfully wave back.

The group went silent as she left their sight. "Uh... she left?" Saber said with loss of words.

"That girls marches to the beat of her own drum, doesn't she?" Fox assumes.

"Like you're one to talk." Skull scoffed.

"She's pretty good as a Navigator, don't you guys think?" Rouge wondered as silence fell again.

"Wait, what about the Treasure!?" Queen realized.

"Oh, right! We almost forgot! Rook realized as well.

They found the coffin still in one piece and place as they dug off the debris and opened the coffin, only to find it empty. "What the? Where's our prize?" Nora questioned as a violent quake occurred beneath their feet.

 ***RUN, RUN, RUN!**

"Ngh! Now what's going on!?" Blanc questioned as they staggered off-balance.

"M-Mona, talk to us! Any idea where the treasure is!?" Rook demanded his question.

"Futaba... herself was the Treasure! And she's gon, so of course it's empty!" Mona answered as they all caught on to the fact. Just then they all hear loud cracks and they see the sky breaking apart. "Shoot... this is bad!"

"Mona, what's the matter?" Saber asked.

"Not only did the real person come inside her own Palace, she awakened to a Persona while she was here! This place could collapse any second now!" Mona alerted with a pained expression.

"WHAT!?" Most of the exclaimed.

"We've accomplished our mission if her Palace is crumbling. We should hurry back to reality." Queen suggested urgently.

"R-Retreat! Full retreat!" Rook agreed as he ran first to the stairs, only end up blocked by the falling debris.

"Oh shit, we're trapped!?" Skull panicked.

"Uh, uh... down the pyramid go, go, go!" Rook suggested as they jump of the floor, going as the debris keeps falling on them.

* * *

 ***Fall of Anger**

As the dust cloud created from the falling debris, envelops the top of the Pyramid, the entire group were all sprinting down the slope as fast as they can.

"It's catching up to us!" Lotus alerted.

"Running! Here's! A Bitch!" Skull exclaimed, huffing with every step.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE" Rook continued to panic as he then tripped and rolled all the way down to the surface.

"Don't leave us, Rook!" Blanc exclaimed

"Mona! Turn into a car already!" Panther demanded.

"I know! I know! I-" Mona staggered as Panther grabbed him and tossed the cat into the air as the cat manages to transform into van as he landed next to Rook, who was still dazed from rolling.

O-Odin! Hurry!" Rook summoned his Persona as the rest of the group continued to sprint down as the blast from the falling debris blasts them into the air as Mona caught them by morphing his back of the van as cushion as Queen immediately took off.

Freya, Lotus, and Nora lands right onto Odin's back, neighing as the Persona start to run off with out the User. "Don't leave with out ME!" Rook exclaimed as he latched himself onto the tail piece as Odin galloped as fast as the van in front.

The group in the van were groaned in pain as they were positioned awkwardly while Queen focused her attention on escaping. She and the Persona Odin, were avoiding the falling debris, skidding left and right as they made their escape. Rook was having a bad day as he cling on for dear life as his scream was as his mouth was wide open as the camera zooms in, fading out to black.

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter will be the last of the Futaba Arc. And the chance to vote on my page to where they go will be decided by then.**

 **I am so srry for this delay. Work can be a real killer.**

 **Say, I also notice the character from P5R.** **Kasumi Yoshizawa, she looks gorgeous, I hope to add her to this Fanfic, yet we still don't know anymore, no codename yet and Persona. I intent of doing this with the proper information and not something original just yet. And P5S? Looks cool, but I don't have a Switch, suffice to say.**

 **Longest chapter I've done, huh?**

 **Just don't expect updates like these soon. Like I said, work is putting me in a bind here, so I can't update at my ususal deadlines... If I had deadlines.**

 **Any ideas for a chibi segment, please let me know if any1's interested.**

 **Oh, I almost forgot. Seta's Semblance and Weapons**  
 **Seta Narukami's Semblance: Reinforcement - It allows Seta to reinforce an object she holds and turns it into a heavy object once thrown far enough, say like a huge and heavy truck ramming into a small vehicle. The Truck's heavy mass would plow the small vehicle. But what if she focus her sights on the small vehicle, it will change the mass of the small vehicle into a heavy truck, causing something small into a huge bulldozer.**

 **The only side effect is stated that her eyes are so dead it'll intimidate a lot of people, making them taut, stiff upon eye contact. Which is why she keeps her eyes close most of the time and have bangs to cover them, so people won't have to see them.**

 **R &R!**

 **Here's one Omake for the time being.**

* * *

Tubby Tummy Chariots

In her dorm room, Chie was pressing on her stomach as she was looking in the mirror. "How did this happened...?" Chie grumbled as Yang walked by an notices Chie.

"Hey, what's going on, Chie?" Yang asked.

"It's my belly. I think I gained weight..." Chie groaned as she press her jiggly fat.

"I'll say. You think it was all that meat?" Yang wondered as she then checked herself of her flabby parts. "Ooh... I think I have the problem, too..."

"What, you guys fat?" Ryuji assumes as the pair twist their head to see Ryuji watching from outside the door.

"Hey! Privacy!" Chie exclaimed.

"And calling a girl fat?" Yang questioned.

"Well, hey, I was plannin' on a jog, y'know, working out? Better to burn the fat than gloom 'bout it." Ryuji suggested.

Yang an Chie looked at each and thought about it. "Think we can join in?" Chie asked.

Eventually Ryuji decided to coach them, and push them. "Come on, Girls! Burn that effing fat!" Ryuji exclaimed, rooting for them as they both did sit-ups.

"I think... this is better... than Nora-chan's... training...!" Chie commented as she was doing sit-ups

"I'll... say!" Yang agreed doing sit-ups as well.

* * *

Next, they did push-ups with Blake sitting on Yang as Yukiko sitting on Chie.

"Carrying the life of someone is important in a rescue operation, right?" Ryuji suggested.

"No... sweat!" Both girls agreed as they felt the burn.

* * *

"Up and down, up and down, up and down!" Ryuji shouted as both Yang and Chie lift a table that have their teammates sitting on it.

"Looking good, girls!" Yosuke cheered.

* * *

Last and not least the three ran all around the school campus to in order to complete their dream... of burning fat. "Come on, step it up!" Ryuji huffed.

* * *

"I'd say that was a great work out, right, Yang-chan?" Chie asked as she open up the fridge.

"I think we've accomplish burning some fat." Yang agreed.

"Yeah, maybe we can do this next time." Ryuji suggested as they then watch Ann and Nora eating a cake. "Sheesh... they're gonna get fat if they eat all that cake." He muttered.

As Ann took a slice of the cake, Nora inhale the whole thing which bloated her stomach. "Whoa! Are you sure about that, you figure, Nora..." She reminded her.

"No problem- *Buuuurrrp* I'm okay!" Nora assured as the she deflated the suppose fat as she retains her figure, which left the other three conflicted.

"F-For real...?" Ryuji muttered

"Oh, COME ON!" Chie yelled, tossing a water bottle down, as Yang crushed the water bottle in her hand, all the while gritting her teeth with her eyes glowing red.

All that work for nothing and someone else looks fine.

* * *

 ***The Days When My Mother Was There -another version-**

 ***Wake up, Get up, Get out there**

 ***The Days When My Mother Was There**

 ***Keeper of Lust**

 ***Life Will Change -Instrumental ver.-**

 ***Regret**

 ***Swear to My Bones**

 ***Will Power**

 ***RUN, RUN, RUN!**

 ***Fall of Anger**


	12. Recovery

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **Recovery**

8/07 **Distorted Sakura Residence** Daytime

 ***Fall of Anger**

As the dust cloud created from the falling debris, envelops the top of the Pyramid, the entire group were all sprinting down the slope as fast as they can.

"It's catching up to us!" Lotus alerted.

"Running! Here's! A Bitch!" Skull exclaimed, huffing with every step.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE" Rook continued to panic as he then tripped and rolled all the way down to the surface.

"Don't leave us, Rook!" Blanc exclaimed

"Mona! Turn into a car already!" Panther demanded.

"I know! I know! I-" Mona staggered as Panther grabbed him and tossed the cat into the air as the cat manages to transform into van as he landed next to Rook, who was still dazed from rolling.

O-Odin! Hurry!" Rook summoned his Persona as the rest of the group continued to sprint down as the blast from the falling debris blasts them into the air as Mona caught them by morphing his back of the van as cushion as Queen immediately took off.

Freya, Lotus, and Nora lands right onto Odin's back, neighing as the Persona start to run off with out the User. "Don't leave with out ME!" Rook exclaimed as he latched himself onto the tail piece as Odin galloped as fast as the van in front.

The group in the van were groaned in pain as they were positioned awkwardly while Queen focused her attention on escaping. She and the Persona Odin, were avoiding the falling debris, skidding left and right as they made their escape. Rook was having a bad day as he cling on for dear life as his scream was as his mouth was wide open as the camera zooms in, fading out to black.

 ***Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There**

* * *

8/07 **Cafe Leblanc** Daytime

As Ruby gotten to her senses, she noticed that they reappeared in front of a familiar cafe. "Huh? Leblanc?" She wondered confusedly.

"Hey... You guys still alive?" Ryuji ask with a groan while standing up.

"C-Crystal..." Jaune muttered as his voice was muffled with his face was planted square onto the pavement. Pyrrha eventually helped him up.

"I thought I was gonna die in-" Ann sighed until she realizes Yusuke holding on to her by the waists. "HEY! Will you let go already!?" She exclaimed as she elbowed him off. "Ah, sorry!"

"N-Not again..." Yusuke winced as they got back up.

"Wait, how did we end up in front of Leblanc?" Yang also wondered as the cafe's door opened.

"What was that sound?" Sojiro asked as he stood out before them. "... Hm? What're you guys doing out here?" He asked.

They all stuttered as Ruby quick-thinking allowed her to ad-lib. "Um... I was hoping to ask if I could see Futaba... if that's okay with you?" She asked as Sojiro gave a surprised look.

"Oh yeah! Did she calm down, though?" Ryuji assumed.

"Oh... wait, what? That came out of a blue." Sojiro replied. "I don't know about that."

"Ah, well... We came all this way, so how about we enjoy some coffee?" Weiss suggested, following up Ruby's ad-lib.

"Oh! That's great idea!" Ann agreed.

"That's... fine?" Sojiro nodded, much to the confusion.

"I'm not thirsty, though." Yusuke mentioned, although Yang jabbed him in the gut to keep him quiet.

"*Ahem* I almost forgot! I have some business to take care of, so you guys go on ahead. Akira-kun, Ruby-chan, mind if you guys could give me a hand?" Makoto asked as she winked at them.

"Sure!" Ruby agreed as Akira nodded in agreement.

"We'll be here." Ren waved as he the rest of everyone entered the Cafe, leaving Makoto, Ruby Morgana, and Akira outside.

"Let's go see Futaba." Makoto suggested as the leaders nodded in response.

* * *

8/07 **Sakura Residence** Daytime

They went to find Futaba back at her room, but they ended up finding her sitting in front of her residence, she wasn't moving, as the four approached her. "F-Futaba!? Hey, are you okay?" Ruby staggered as she approached her.

"Can you hear us? Please say something!" Makoto begged as Futaba didn't respond. "Could this be our fault? Is it because we defeated her monstrous mother...?" She panicked.

"No, that was nothing more than a cognitive being created in her mind. Destroying it wouldn't cause memory loss or put a physical burden on her..." Morgana explained.

"That's a good thing, but she's not coming to." Ruby pat Futaba's head.

"Joker, don't know a doctor?" The cat mentioned.

"Oh, that's right!" Akira realized as he pulled out his cell scroll and made the call.

"Let's bring her back up to her room while we're at it." Ruby included as Makoto agreed.

* * *

They managed to bring her to her room and brought over Takemi to examine Futaba.

"A house call is going to cost you, you know." Takemi mentioned.

"Okay, how much?" Ruby asked.

"... That was a joke." Takemi replied with the students giving a sigh.

"So, um... how is her condition?" Makoto asked.

"Her pulse, breathing, temperature, and blood pressure are all normal. No ocular abnormalities either. I'm not sure why, but it seems this girl is in some kind of light stupor." Takemi stated. "Furthermore, she lacks muscle for her age. I doubt she has much stamina either."

"I see. The rebound from her awakening was too strong..." Makoto assumed.

"There may have too many abnormal circumstances..." Morgana agreed.

"... Hey, I don't think we should keep this quiet. We need to tell Mr. Sakura about this." Ruby suggested with worry.

"Wouldn't he figure out our identities?" Morgana questioned.

"Still we should tell him, shouldn't we." Makoto agreed as well.

"Let's go get him. If he asks, we just found her passed out outside." Akira suggested as they.

"Just keep the circumstances that led up to this a secret, Okay?" Morgana asked.

They eventually led Sojiro and their friends back to his residence as he checks up with the comatose Futaba. "Hey, Futaba? Heyyy?" He called out his unresponsive daughter while the students looked away in guilt. "Oh dear..."

"Um... I she gonna be okay?" Ruby asked with concern.

"Hm? Why do you guys looks so down? This happens every so often." Sojiro assured, surprising everyone so suddenly. "She must've used up all her energy. It's like she ran out of batteries. I think it happens 'cause she doesn't get enough exercise." He chuckled.

"What...? Ryuji groaned.

"The lack of strength in the muscles. I guess that makes sense." Blake agreed.

"She stays like this for a few days whenever this happens." Sojiro scratches his head. "Here, keep an eye on her. I'm going to close the store." He said as he left the room.

"Well, I guess I'll be heading out now." Takemi followed out with her medical bag.

Moments later, the student left in the room, they were still baffled by Futaba's conditions. "It's hard to describe how I feel right now." Makoto stuttered.

"Conflicted. I think that's the right word." Weiss corrected.

"Yeah, I'm feelin' pretty frustrated." Ryuji agreed.

"At least she's out of harms way. Isn't that worth the effort?" Pyrrha cringe a smile.

"Yeah, I'm glad she's okay, but what are we gonna do about Medjed?" Ann mentioned.

When Ann mentioned it, Futaba's cat ears fidgeted as she opened her eyes. "Medjed...?" She muttered.

"Oh, she's up!" Ruby stated as they turned to her.

"... Tired. Gonna sleep for a bit." Futaba muttered as she closes her eyes as went back to sleep.

"She fell a sleep again!?" Nora exclaimed.

"Futaba!" Jaune tried to call out to her, but she was out like a light.

"For a bit...? How much is she planning on sleeping...?" Ann wondered.

"We probably shouldn't wake her up either..." Yang suggested.

"And it's too late for us to find another hacker..." Makoto agreed.

"All we can do is wait for her to wake up..." Morgana nodded.

"We'll have put our trust in her to help us in the last minute." Ren stated.

* * *

They decided to head out once Futaba was in the clear. "So... what should we do for now?" Jaune wondered.

"Those Medjed people said they'll start the purge on the 10th...? We have at least three days left." Pyrrha mentioned.

"Well... we should probably check-in with our professor. We did sorta bolted out of the hotel after all." Ruby recalled.

"Then we'll call it a break for the day. I'll make sure Futaba-chan is okay." Akira assured.

"All right, we'll see you guys later." Ruby waved off as the students went their own ways.

"... Now I'm feeling hungry... I could go for some pancakes right about now..." Nora grumbled.

"You sound like Chie." Yang laughed.

* * *

8/07 **Granbell Hotel** Afternoon

The Student Huntsmen returned to the hotel as they see their Professor on her cell scroll.

"... The train's delayed? Yes, I heard on the news." Seta stated with a heavy sigh. "It does seem unusual for such a weather formation around the Yamanashi Prefecture, especially in the middle of summer." Seta then see's the students coming in and waved back at them as she returns to the conversation. "... I suppose you're right... Alright, alright. I'll see you and Nana-chan when we get there. Stay healthy, Ryo-kun." She said as she hung up, then turning to the students. "I've been meaning to ask, where did you guys go all so suddenly in the morning?" She asked them as they staggered with surprise.

"Oh! Uhh... Akira and his friends wanted to show us an event or two so we... forgot to tell you." Ruby ad-libbed. "So what's this about the train being delay?" She asked, dodging her Professor's question.

"Hm... after Medjed's statement, the train's systems have been having technical difficulties so they should have it up running sometime in a couple of days..." Seta explained. "Honestly... what happen to the railway company while I was out of the Kingdom...?" She muttered as she walks away.

"Did Medjed do lot of damage already?" Blake wondered.

"They might've thought they would lead up attacks into one huge blow. That could be possible." Ren assumes.

"All we can do is to assume." Weiss said with uncertainty.

"We came all this way, and we're not getting scolded? So what are we gonna eat?" Nora asked, changing the subject.

"I guess we could we could grab lunch... or dinner. It's already at the time of day." Jaune suggested as he looks out the window.

"I hear that there's a beef bowl shop in the city, wanna try something new?" Yang asked.

"Ooh, that'll work. Let's go!" Nora cheered as she rushes out the door.

"Wow, her stomach is beyond me..." Ruby commented as they decided to go out.

* * *

8/07 **Shibuya, Japan** Evening

With in a dark alley, Cinder and her group received their instructions from the chief from the District Prosecutors Office. "We got our orders. We have to head to the next shrine." Adachi said.

"Did he gave you the coordinates?" Cinder asked.

"Over around here. The shrine's in the mountains of the Yamanashi Prefecture. It won't be hard to miss." Adachi stated as he showed the map to them on his cell scroll.

"Very well then. We're heading out now and settle in a nearby town." Cinder stated as she rolled her eyes at Adachi. "I don't suppose you know a place to stay do you?"

"... There's a town called Inaba, but I'm pretty well known there. That'll be a problem if I show outta the blue." Adachi sighed. "And you wanted us to remain stealthy or whatever..."

"As long as we stay in another district, that could be arrange." Cinder replied as she, Emerald and Mercury walked away.

"... What does she have in mind...?" Adachi muttered out of their earshot.

* * *

8/07 **Orenobeko Beef Bowl Shop** Evening

It just so happens that the students saw Akira working part-time at the Beef Bowl shop, much to everyone's surprise. "Hi, Akira!" Ruby wave to them.

"Yikes... I forgot that there's a lot of people came in together." Morgana meowed while watching from Akira's school bag.

"If you're taking orders now... you think I can have medium barbecue bowl?" Yang asked.

"A set of those... fish and beef skewers." Blake ordered.

"I shall have... a grilled beef set, less grease." Weiss added.

"I'll have the largest... nayto bowls?" Nora asked

"It's pronounced 'Natto.' I'll have a medium beef bowl." Ren corrected as he ordered his meal.

"Me and Pyrrha will have the same." Jaune ordered as well.

"Hey, we like to order our meals, too!" another customer yelled at the far side of the shop room as Akira was diligently placing orders and running around.

"He's certainly a diligent worker." A middle-aged man in a suit laughed weakly. "I still wonder why the manager hasn't been able to employ more workers though."

Ruby looked around the room in response. Akira was the only person working in the room. "Are they understaffed?" Ruby wondered.

"Perhaps... Employees being overworked is becoming a real problem in the workplace. That's concerning..." He said.

"What's worse... most shops that runs by humans won't even serve faunus customers. I'm glad this shop doesn't allows that." Blake said.

"Oh, you must be foreign aren't you?" The man noted. "Not to worry, such exclusion has been outlawed in this Kingdom, so I don't believe you will have that problem here." He assured as he placed his payment on the table. "Thank you for the food. Will you be able to help me with my routine sometime, Akira-kun?"

"Yeah, I should be able to have time, Yoshida-san." Akira reassured as he collected the money along with the dishes.

"Well, don't strain yourself. We'd need people like one of these days." The named Yoshida stated as he left.

"Who's the old guy?" Yang asked.

"Toranosuke Yoshida. He's a politician who been giving speeches in front of a nearby station. You guys must've missed him." Morgana explained. "We sorta struck a deal with him in helping us with Joker's persuasion arts.

"'Persuasion arts'? That sounds suspicious." Weiss scoffed.

"Say what you will. That guy seems decent enough to help. You guys wanna watch him, unless you guys aren't into speeches." Morgana looked away.

"I guess we can hear what he want's to say." Jaune agreed.

"Not to mention it could help Ruby with her language arts." Weiss joked as Ruby remained silent in annoyance.

* * *

8/07 **Shibuya, Japan** Evening

After Akira finished up, the students followed him to the station to meet up with the politician. While Akira was holding up one of his signs, Yoshida continued his speeches. "... There has been far too many incidents recently to ignore!" Can anyone deny this!?" He declared. "The runaway train incident, mysterious psychotic breakdowns, a school with corrupt teachers... we have yet to discover the truth of it all! The apathy that permeates society is a direct result of negligence by our government and the media."

"Huh... I think Naoto said the same thing." Yang recalled as she watches on.

"With the Kingdom's society so negligent, I'd have to agree with him already." Blake comment.

"The conviction of a government is often tested during times of turmoil. However, the current administration refuses to discuss their plans for the future. Can we really accept such an utter lack of transparency!?" Yoshida continued.

Muttering rung all around the politician, none so pleasant that is...

"I've been hearing this type of criticism about the government a lot lately." A weary-looking woman muttered.

"That's because Diet Member Shido has been gaining popularity by saying the same thing." Replied a bored-looking man.

"So he's just echoing another politician's criticism of the government?" The weary-looking woman questioned.

"Apparently. Tch, whatever..." The Bored-looking man scoffed and left.

"Can't really say he tried." Weiss muttered.

"First you stole party funds and now you're stealing ideas, No-Good Tora!" An Anti-Yoshida man yelled as he stepped before the politician. "Stop talking all big you ex-convict!"

Yoshida baffled with stress as some people showed their resentment towards him. "No-Good Tora?" Jaune wondered.

"What's this about the funds?" Blake added.

"So he's claiming those who have made mistakes in the past shouldn't get a second chance?" Yoshida sighed in discomfort.

"Will you stoop interrupting him?!" Akira exclaimed at the Anti-Yoshida man.

"What was that? You got something to say to me, kid!?" He yelled back.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Akira retorted with a firm stance and intimidating glare.

"Wh-What's up with this kid?" The Anti-Yoshida man stuttered.

"So what if he is No-Good Tora? You should listen to the 'ex-convict', he has a point!" Akira declared.

"Tch, you little punk..." the Man growled with a clenched fist.

"Whoa... is he about to-?" Nora stated alertly as Yoshida lowered his hands as he took a deep breath as he continued his speech, raising his hand once more.

"... Yes, I am 'No-Good Tora,' and I made mistakes. Yes, I am unpopular and powerless. But that has nothing to do with my arguments! These are things I learned from all my hardships." Yoshida confessed as he continued, brimming with confidence. "You can ridicule me all you want, but I will continue to oppose what is wrong with this Kingdom, this world!" He stated as the Anti-Yoshida man backed off.

Moments later, the students gathered before Akira and Yoshida. "Today's speech ended up being filled with a lot of passion. Quite unexpectedly, I might add." Yoshida commented. "The highlight though, was your voice, Akira-kun.

"I just spoke the truth. I couldn't help myself." Akira denied.

"You guys certainly showed that man a thing or two." Blake chuckled.

"Indeed, it was very promising. But try not to overdo it. You should avoid making enemies whenever possible. Even Huntsmen should grow into that habit as well." Yoshida advised as he checked his watch of the time. "... Hm... look at the time. I think we can call it for today."

As the students were about to head out, the same Anti-Yoshida man came up to the politician with a solemn expression. "You two are amazing... I've been wrong the whole time. Even though someone has failed in the past, it doesn't mean that person can't try again." That man said as the group and the politician were awed by his realization. "Th-That's all I wanted to say!" He stuttered as he was about to walk away.

"Please wait!" Yoshida pleaded as the man turned back to face him. "Thank you! ... That is all I wanted to say." He appreciated.

"... You're a strange on. Just like that kid." The supposed Anti-Yoshida Man said as he walked away.

"That was weird. Wasn't he against him?" Nora wondered.

"... I think I learned something from Akira-kun's dauntless spirit today." Yoshida realized as he turns to Akira. "I have a bad habit of getting flustered whenever someone calls me No-Good Tora. But you see me as someone of value, so I refused to cower to criticism in front you all." He told them.

"Speaking of criticism, this whole 'No-Good Tora,' Did something happened to you?" Jaune asked as Yoshida frowned at the question.

"... It was quite an ordeal 20 years ago. Are you all willing to hear it?" The Politician replied.

"Well, we're free, so can spare some time." Ruby answered.

"Perhaps we can learn a thing or two about politics." Weiss agreed as well.

"Thank you. Let me explain," Yoshida said as he begun his downfall. "I use to be a member of the National Diet."

"National... Diet? You guys went on a huge diet or something?" Nora asked.

"No, it's their Kingdom's version of our Kingdoms' councils." Weiss corrected.

"In a similar sense, you are correct, young lady." Yoshida agreed as he continued. "I was elected during the rise of a certain event. We were backed by powerful Diet members. This was years before you all were born." He stated with a sigh following. "I was very inexperienced back then, both as a politician as well as a human being. That inexperience led me to be involved in a series of major political scandals."

"Major scandals...?" Ren said as they wondered.

"Yes. People refer to my blunders as 'No-Good Tora's three strikes.'" He continued with a heavier sigh. "The first was being caught missing a legislative meeting to take a personal vacation. Then, I was accused of embezzling a large sum of money from the party... giving me two strikes."

"A personal vacation? You might have check you schedule wrong." Weiss tried to hold her laughter.

"Embezzling money? Why would you do that?" Blake questioned.

"I honestly don't know. I wasn't sure if I did it or not and that was over 20 years." Yoshida told her with a sorrowful expression. "I know I made mistakes, but I wasn't wrong about my concerns about the well-being of our citizens, and that's only two strikes.

"There's a third one isn't there?" Pyrrha recalled.

"The last one, I called a voter an idiot at an open forum, which resulted in a scandal... that was strike three." Yoshida stated with the students, excluding Akira, giving dead expressions towards the Politician. "I was out... and branded a washed-up politician."

"And that's how he got here." Akira stated.

"And yet you're still giving speeches? For what purpose?" Ruby asked.

"You wanted to learn a thing or two about politics. But what do you see the man before you?" Yoshida asked.

The Beacon students looked at each other as they wondered about him. A questionable background and accused of embezzlement, yet he has conviction and the desire to change the world.

"You certainly have the conviction. That much I can understand." Ruby answered.

"I'm happy to hear that, however, everyone says that I have no chance to get elected, so why come to me?" Yoshida asked them.

"Because you seem to have that technique. And you have that confidence to back it up... I guess..." Jaune answered.

"You're all doing a great job of cheering me up." Yoshida chuckled. "It's truly a pity that we need more children like you all to up-hold the future, especially for our Kingdom. The most important part about giving a good speech is believing in yourself. I'm certain that applies to you Huntsmen in your duties as well. Perhaps one day, I will truly believe in myself fully one more." He pondered.

"Perhaps." Ruby agreed as they parted ways for the night.

* * *

8/08 **Cafe Leblanc** Morning

The next day, Team RWBY decided to pay a visit to the cafe. "Isn't the deadline in two days?" Blake asked.

"It's not like we have much of a choice. Not to mention the train is still in repairs aren't they?" Weiss sighed as they entered the cafe.

They see Sojiro serving Akira. "Hey..." Sojiro greeted as Akira waved back at them. Morgana popped his head out of the bag as well.

"Hiya, Mr. Sakura! ... Is Futaba doing okay?" Ruby asked as they took their seat.

"Same as always." Sojiro answered with a defeated sigh as he placed a cup of coffee on the counter. "This is the same month Wakaba passed. I do this every year."

"It must be really hard for you guys." Yang understood.

"Yeah, Futaba reminds me so much of mother. She's a smart girl. Doesn't just go with the flow, either." Sojiro sighed again. "Wakaba... your work and your kid were so fulfilling for you... why'd you have to die so suddenly...?" Akira and Team RWBY gave a moment of silence as Sojiro looked at the students. "... That reminds me, you all saw me talking to that prosecutor- I mean that woman in a suit, right? I remember you guys were real bothered by it. She might come back, so I guess I should tell you guys about it." He referred to Sae Niijima, Makoto's older sister. "That woman was trying to get information on Wakaba's research out of me.

"We... heard her say 'cognitive-something'." Blake mentioned.

"That's what we heard in the Palace." Morgana added.

"Look, you don't need to know what the research was about. Just know there was some trouble around it. Obviously, Wakaba got dragged into it as well. Now, they ruled her death a suicide... But I've got my doubts.

"Doubts?" Ruby wondered.

"Could she have been killed?" Morgana meowed.

"Supposedly, there was people who wanted to take her research and use it for their own benefit... Don't get e wrong though, I don't have a lick of evidence. That's why I haven't told Futaba any of this. I don't want to cause her any more trouble."

"It sounded like she had suspicions of her own based on what she said in the Palace." Morgana recalled.

"Still, there's one thing I regret. It was right before Wakaba died... She told me that she might die." Sojiro said, catching their attention. "I brushed it off thinking it was a joke, but if I had just taken it seriously..." He grunted as he calmed down. "That's another reason I took Futaba in... Redemption. She went through such horrible things. Those heartless adults just yelled at the poor girl... Say, how do you guys heal emotional scars?" He asked them.

"They normally heal on their own." Akira guessed.

"Maybe be there for them when they need someone?" Ruby suggested.

"I agree. I'm waiting for it to happen, but..." Sojiro heard the door open and staggered the moment he saw the familiar Faunus girl. "Futaba...!?"

Futaba walked in as the girls were as dumbfounded by her entering the cafe. She drank the coffee from the cup that Sojiro left out on the table. "... It's cold. You can't sell this!" The young Faunus stated.

"... You'd think that's Iced Coffee?" Ruby wondered.

"That's the least of our worry!" Her Teammates yelled.

"N-Never mind that... How did you get here...?" Sojiro questioned with awe-struct surprise.

"Uh... I walked?" Futaba answered.

"... You're okay!?" Weiss questioned.

"Was that bad?" Futaba asked.

"Th-That's not it! I'm just shocked to see you out of the house..." Sojiro stated.

"Uh... I'm sorry to worry you." Futaba apologized.

Sojiro sighed in content. "... It's all right."

"By the way, what's today's date today?" Futaba asked.

"Eh? It's uh... It's the 8th." Sojiro guessed as he went to check a nearby calendar.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something..." Futaba pondered.

"Wha- We waited for you!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Y'know the cleanse? Medjed?" Yang added.

"Oh, I remember now. Medjed." Futaba realized nonchalantly. She looks at Sojiro and whispers to them. "Let's take care of it now. Come." The younger hacker Faunus stated as they followed her out to her house.

* * *

8/08 **Sakura Residence** Daytime

They all went into Futaba's room as the young Faunus begins to boot up her PC. "It's my turn to help out." She declares as she crack her knuckles and opens up her programs. "Hmph, 'Medjed.' Now, how do we cook them?" She wonders as she begins typing.

"Is there a way to eliminate them?" Weiss asked.

"Violent much?" Futaba chuckled.

"Hey, Futaba? We don't have much time left. Are you sure you could do this!?" Morgana questioned.

Futaba's cat ears twitched as she turns back to see the cat. "Th-The kitty talked!? Is this a dream...? I think I'll go back to sleep." She muttered.

"It is NOT a dream!" Weiss and Morgana exclaimed.

"Seriously though, he IS talking to us." Ruby reassured.

"R-Right..." Futaba stuttered.

"Futaba, please!" Blake reprimand as Futaba returned to typing.

"...Eh, I guess it doesn't matter. Let's get to cracking!" She continued typing on her keyboard.

It took at least over a half-hour and Futaba was still on her computer. "You're just tapping away over there... Are you sure this will work?" Weiss questioned, although Futaba payed no attention the Heiress as her focus was on the computer.

"Futaba?" Yang asked as she still gave no response.

"I don't think she can hear us... Talk about intense concentration." Morgana commented with astonishment as he looked around the room. "This place is so messy... I'm surprise she can focus at all."

"Yeah, she could really clean her room a bit." Ruby agreed as Futaba was still on the computer.

"She's not listening..." Morgana sighed in defeat. "Oh well, just waiting around is boring. Let's clean this place up." He suggested.

"I think there should be trash bags around." Akira agreed.

While Futaba was continuing cracking down the Medjed group, Akira and Team RWBY decided to clean her room while they waited.

"Phew... It looks a little better now, don't you think?" Morgana stated.

"Don't act like you did a thing, you cat." Weiss retorted as Morgana didn't care to counter back.

"So, Futaba? We're done on our end. Are you finished yet?" Blake asked as the the Faunus hacker still had her eyes glued on the computer screen. "She can't hear a word I'm saying." He muttered as they all sweat-dropped. "Guess we'll just have to keep waiting.

* * *

8/08 **Sakura Residence** Evening

Hours passed as Futaba finally stretches her hands out. "I'm Doooooone!" Futaba declared, waking everyone up from their nap. Blake and Morgana jumped from the sudden scream.

"Wh-What's up? Something happened?" Ruby staggered as she rubs her eyes.

"It's finished." Futaba stated as she looks around her room.

"Finished? *Yawn* what is?" Yang yawned as she asked.

"Ah, it's so clean! Why!?" Futaba asked as she realized her room cleaned somehow.

"We cleaned it." Weiss answered.

"Anyways, is it true? Did you really take care of Medjed?" Morgana asked.

"I handled them, and some handled my room...! I don't understand, but this is good!" Futaba agreed to the circumstances as she pulled out a cat-faced plushie a laid her head down.

"Futaba? Hey, did you...?" Ruby walked up to her, only to realized that she went to sleep.

"Ugh... is she sleeping!? Did she take care of Medjed or not?" Weiss questioned to no avail.

"I guess she did. We should probably head out ourselves, I mean look at the time?" She mentioned as they see her scroll's time. It's already evening.

"Wow, look at the time. Let's put our faith in her that she did what we needed her to do." Akira stated as they all decided to return home.

* * *

8/08 **Granbell Hotel** Evening

Team RWBY returned to the hotel as they shared what they know with Team JNPR at a corner of the lobby. "And she went back to sleep?" Nora complained.

"She must have been quite exhausted. I can't say I blame her at all." Ren agreed.

"If Medjed's been affected, then would't it affect the news in a way?" Jaune assumed.

"That should be enough to confirm whether or not the deed has been done." Pyrrha agreed.

"Then we'll watch the news. They should be on tomorrow." Ruby suggested.

As they showed their concerns until Sun and Neptune showed up before them. "Hey, how's everyone doing?" Sun asked as Jaune jumped by the sudden surprise.

"Sun? We're good. What have you guys been up to?" Ruby asked back.

"My team's been scouting the best beaches to go to and Mishima found a best spot. You guys wanna hit the beach some time?" Sun suggested as some student saw Neptune turning blue by the thought.

"I guess we deserve a day of R&R." Yang agreed.

"And we can invite our Shujin friends too." Ren added.

With nothing else to do, they decided to sleep on it.

* * *

8/09 **Cafe Leblance** Daytime

As the heatwave started to don on the Beacon Students as they were sweating on the way into the cafe. "I... I need water...!" Jaune pant with exhaustion.

"It's so hot... why is it so hot...!?" Ruby questioned with exasperation.

"That's because you don't wear lighter close. You know black clothing attracts sunlight, even your hood is only extra weight." Weiss complained as she fans herself.

"But I like my hood..." Ruby whined as they spot the members of the Phantom Thieves hanging around.

"Hey guys, so you guys heard any news about the Medjed group yet?" Ann asked as they took their seats.

"I'm guessing you guys haven't either?" Blake replied as they shook their heads as Akira comes down, yawning.

"So you're finally up, huh? Don't slack off just 'cause you're on summer vacation." Sojiro warned him.

"You certainly look tired." Weiss mentioned Akira's yawn.

"We've made ourselves at home." Ann cheerfully stated as they looked comfortable.

"Say Boss, think we can grab a drink while we're here, we're sweating a storm here." Nora asked.

"Coming right up." Sojiro replied as he went back to the kitchen.

 _"Late last night, it was discovered that someone has tampered with the hacker group Medjed's website. The site's main page is now displays what is thought to be the mark belonging to the Phantom Thieves. Moreso, the personal information of a Japanese man, a possible Medjed member, was illegally publicized."_ The TV Reporter stated.

"Aren't these the guys people have been up in arms about?" Sojiro asked as he place the customer's drinks on the bar counter.

 _"Medjed has yet to issue an official reply. Furthermore, their previously announced cleanse of Japan has remained unimplemented for now. Some speculate that they have taken this series of events seriously and ultimately canceled their plan."_ The TV Reporter continued.

The students all cheered and sighed with relief taking the news well. "What's with all the cheering?" Sojiro asked.

"Oh! Well... Nothing much, something great has happened." Ruby reassured.

"Well stop it. You guys are gonna drive away my customers." The shopkeeper demanded.

 _"After the commercial break, we will be asking guests from various fields about this turn of events."_ The TV Reporter stated.

"But there ain't any customers...?" Ryuji recalled as he looks around the restaurant.

"Can it, my customers are on summer vacation too." Sojiro countered back.

"Speaking of which, I heard that the repairs are almost done, and we'll have head out tomorrow." Blake mentioned.

"We have until tomorrow evening." Weiss added.

"I hear that. Was there some place you wanted to go?" Akira asked.

"Our friend, Sun, recommended going to the beach. You guys interested?" Yang asked.

"The beach? Oh hell yeah!" Ryuji agreed wholeheartedly. "What do you guys think?" He turned to his friends.

Akira nodded with a thumbs up, but Ann and Makoto had other things in mind. "I wanna go to the beach too, but we can't just leave Futaba-chan alone."

"Maybe we can invite her too?" Pyrrha suggested.

"Another plate of your hottest curry, boss!" Nora demanded as she place more lien on the table, as Sojiro brought in another plate.

"Some things still concerns me too, like that 'research'..." Makoto added as the door opened to reveal Futaba coming in.

"Oh! Did you just get up?" Sojiro asked in good manners.

"Hiya, Futaba!" Ruby waved.

"Good morning." Makoto greeted her but she then flinched and scuttled in between Ruby and Akira.

"It seems she's cautious of us..." Yusuke assumed.

"Aw, don't be like that. We won't bite." Yang reassured as she still glares at the them.

"Hey, why don't we all go upstairs? If any customers come, she'll be even more afraid." Makoto suggested with concern.

"Why don't you go with them Futaba? Have fun." Sojiro agreed. "It's about time my regulars show up anyway, so I don't want you guys loitering around my store." He suggested as Futaba nodded.

Later after the students left for the 2nd floor, Sojiro's regulars arrived and made themselves comfortable as they have their coffee. The TV screen show a conference with important people are interviewed. Gaius is there, too.

 _"The fact that there were no damages due to the hackers' actions is but an afterthought. The issue I want to make clear is the attitude of the police, and more importantly, the government."_ The Distinguished Man stated. Even Sojiro remained stern for some reason.

 _"What do you mean?"_ The TV Reporter asked.

 _"Are thy doing their best to find an effective countermeasure against these Phantom Thieves? Is it not the government's duty to create a society where its citizens can live without worry? Unfortunately, the current cabinet is powerless. As such they should be disbanded. I believed now is the time for me to risk my political career in hope of making a new reality. A new political system that goes beyond parties or factions... An ideal Kingdom of peace and order..."_ The Distinguished Man declared and continued on.

"This politician seems quite promising." An Elderly Male Customer commented.

"I have to agree. I hope he can work to ease the anxieties of the elderly."

"What do you think, boss?" The Eldery Man asked.

"Hm? Oh, sorry, I wasn't listening..." Sojiro replied.

"You know... I've just realized that you've been saying that every time for some time now." The Elderly Woman mentioned

"I guess I'm getting too old..." Sojiro sighed.

* * *

No Date Confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Daytime

"So your little group not only saved Futaba Sakura, you were able to have her help the Phantom Thieves against the Medjed?" Gaius summarized as he and Ruby ate a Ramen in the room.

"*Slurp* Yep... and I'm glad that she was able to recover." Ruby smiled with relief as she then used a napkin to wipe off the soup.

"Hmm... Wakaba Isshiki. Now that's a name I haven't heard for sometime. If that research of her's was important to take her life that would make a new possibility..." Gaius muttered to the idea. _"To think that there's a conspiracy going on under everyone's noses..."_

"Well... after we rescued Futaba, we didn't exactly have any more time to ask for more information, we had to head to our next destination after that day.

"Yes, you all were still traveling. At least, can you give any further details or such? Before you left Tokyo." Gaius requested.

And so, Ruby began to recall once more...

* * *

8/09 **Cafe Leblance** Daytime

The Phantom Thieves and the Student Huntsmen were all in the attic as they discuss the events so far. Futaba and Nora were sitting on Akira's bed as they continued to eat their lunch.

"To think the cognitive version of a person would transform into such a horrible monster and attack us." Yusuke muttered at the thought.

"That would mean our enemies aren't only Shadows and the Grimm..." Ren agreed a shared thought.

"I thought the other people were just victims, like the slaves at the castle or the walking ATMs." Ann thought.

"We don't know about that, unless it any different from Cognitive Yu. Weiss added.

"Even though they seem to be alive, they're only part of the backdrop... the environment." Makoto deduced.

"They're not real..." Ren stated as he clenched his arm. Nora notices and felt concern for him.

"In other words, the Palace ruler determines the form and strength of their cognition." Blake added up.

"I'd hope to ask Futaba's mother how far along she was with her research." Makoto hoped despite her death.

"She was looking into that cognitive psience stuff, right?" Jaune asked.

"Putting together all the information we gained up till now, constant abuse of it can lead one's death, and it may even relate to those psychotic breakdowns we've been hearing." Weiss added up.

"Considering the 'cognitive' aspect, I sense a strong connection between it and the Metaverse." Makoto included.

"On top of that, the research might have been stolen and used by someone else." Morgana added on.

"You mean those guys that showed Futaba-chan the fake suicide note." Ann suggested.

"If that is the case, those people are unforgivable." Pyrrha stated with disappointment and anger.

"Say, Futaba. Is there anything else you can remember?" Ruby asked but Futaba stood up and left the room. "Futaba?"

"Well, quite the difficult girl." Yang chuckled only to see Futba gain holding another bowl of ramen.

"That smell..." Yusuke muttered as his fox ears twitched.

"Is that seafood...?" Blake muttered as well regarding the scent from the ramen bowl.

"C'mon, no fair..." Ann whined.

"Hey, can I snag a bite?" Ryuji begged. Futaba glared him though. "Meanie..." He grunted.

"Geez, if you guys are that hungry, you could've ordered from the boss down stairs." Nora suggested as she held her plate of curry, much to the rest of the students' watery mouth.

"Why don't we take a short break?" Makoto also suggested.

"Yeah, I mean it IS lunch time." Ruby agreed.

* * *

Later, while they were digging into their lunch they continued their conversation. "I've been thinking, even if Futaba is a genius, could she really crush an international hacker organization that easily?" Makoto wondered.

"The one who taunted the Phantom Thieves was a guy in Japan. I knew the Medjed members in Japan weren't anything special, so I wasn't worried.

"In Japan? Only in the Kingdom?" Jaune wondered. "Thinking about it, they would've been well known if they were in other Kingdoms, but we didn't hear about them until now."

"I would've know if the acting member was foreign or not, but this guy was definitely in Japan." Futaba assured.

"How do you know that?" Ann asked.

"'Cause I'm the founder." Futaba stated as everyone staggered and some almost choked on their lunch.

"Uh... Wh-What!?" Weiss exclaimed.

"Holy cats, seriously!?" Ruby staggered.

"Um... what do you mean? Should we take that literally." Makoto questioned with confusion.

"Yep. It was only me at first, back then I was referred to as the hacker of justice." Futaba stated proudly. "But since I stayed anonymous, a buncha guys from all over Remnant started using the name."

"And those were the ones committing cybercrimes." Ann followed.

"It was a hassle to expose all of them, so I left them be." Futaba finished.

"Uhhh... so Futaba was the true Medjed, and we were freakin' out over some weak-ass dipshits?" Ryuji realized with a annoyed sigh. "You should've told us from the start, Futaba."

"I discarded the Medjed name a while ago. I'm Alibaba now." Futaba declared.

"Cool." Ruby nodded and went straight to the punch. "So... what do you want to do now?" She asked.

"Since you know our secret, we'd like you to join our team." Makoto suggested.

Futaba: "'Kay."

"Just like that?" Nora asked.

"This may even ensure our investigations of the Palaces goes along smoothly." Makoto included.

"Hmm... you guys could use a Navigator. I think she'd fit that role pretty well, I think." Pyrrha agreed.

"Well... I guess." Morgana agreed reluctantly.

"Well, Futaba's real amazin'! She's gonna be a big help for us, huh?" Ryuji complimented as they all nodded in agreement.

"Say, Futaba. How did you find out about us?" Makoto asked.

Futaba: "Secret."

"Where did you learn to hack?" Weiss asked.

Futaba: "Private."

"When did you learn about the Nav?" Akira asked.

"I refuse to answer." The Hacker Faunus stated.

"Futaba-chan sure is unique. Still, it'll be a problem if she doesn't open up to us some more." Ann mentioned.

"At the very least, we need to communicate normally with her." Yusuke suggested.

"Hm... I got an idea!" Ruby exclaimed as she pulled out her scroll. "Futaba! How about we duke it out in... Kung-Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle 2!" She declared as she displays the screen from her scroll. "What better way to know each other than compete in a video game?" She suggested.

Futaba's head turned 180* as she heard that name. "You played K.N.S.U.D.B.2!? That's... So... Old school!" She exclaimed as she got up.

"K-K, N... S... what? Old school?" Ruby wondered.

"Check this!" Futaba pulls out her cell scroll and revealed a new screen displaying the title. "Kung-Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle Neo"

"What the what!?" Ruby gasped.

"It's the same game, but in higher quality!" Futaba explained.

"Whoa! It even has an opening!? But I haven't even heard of a new game coming out in Vale!" Jaune realized.

"That's because the game company haven't been able to find English voice actors. Foreign voice actor are hard to come by nowadays." Futaba answered. "The voice acting from the last game were all Japanese trying to speak English, hence losing its value ever since. They said until find English voice actors, this game still has yet to make a debut on foreign soil."

While Ruby and Jaune were discussing the game the others were surprise to see Futaba instantly interact with Ruby regarding it. "I guess we can open up to her through the game." Yang somewhat agreed.

"We do have the time thanks to the train repairs." Blake mentioned.

"Then let's go to the beach tomorrow! There'll be tonsa people there, plus we got totally dried out in that desert." Ryuji suggested.

"That's a great idea." Ann agreed. "We haven't gone to the beach yet."

Futaba didn't payed much attention as she and Ruby started playing the game already.

"Wow... that's some quality- What? No!" Ruby panicked as she lost the game match.

"Mehehehe... is that all you got? I thought you were a pro at this game?" Futaba wondered with a smirk.

"What?! I am...! demand a rematch!" Ruby complained.

"She certainly opened up real fast..." Yusuke realized.

"Hey, think I can play?" Ryuji asked, stepping up.

* * *

8/09 **Cafe Leblance** Evening

Sojiro stepped into the attic to find everyone up and at a screen that students are playing with Futaba. It seems Futaba's on a winning streak.

 _"Green Wins!"_ The game stated.

"Ha! And that's how you do it!" Futaba declared, smiling. "Seriously, I thought one of you guys were pros at this games, but man..."

"No fair! I don't even play these games!" Weiss complained.

"Seriously? You need to get out some more." Futaba replied.

"Speak for your self!" The Heiress retort.

"Wh-What the... don't tell me you guys have been up here all day!?" Sojiro questioned.

Soon enough, they all check the time on their scrolls and looked outside of the window. "Wow, look at the time!" Nora gasped.

"Were we playing that game that game for hours? I can't believe this!" Weiss groaned in disgust.

"But we did managed to open up to her, even if it was a little..." Pyrrha reassured as they watched Futaba, Nora, Yang, and Ruby were discussing fighting combos and what-so-ever on the game they played.

"Sorry for the wait!" Ann called out to them as they see her and Makoto entering the attic.

"Huh? When did you guys get back?" Yang asked.

"When did you leave?" Ren added.

"You guys didn't see us leave? We went to find swimsuits for Futaba-chan." Ann answered.

"A-A s-s-swimsuit!?" Futaba stuttered.

"You don't have one, do you?" Ann asked as Futaba shook her head in response.

"Oh... OH! That's right! The beach!" Ruby realized as she turned to Futaba. "You wanna hang out at the beach with us? I mean it may has a lot of people there, and we have to head out tomorrow night so..."

"The beach... swimsuits... am I really ready for that?" Futaba wondered.

"The beach...?" Sojiro muttered in response. "I didn't even see her take that much interest in going outside again.

"All right, let's have you try them on right now then." Ann suggested.

"N-n-now!?" Futaba staggered.

"You can't go to the beach if you don't have a good-fitting swimsuit. They don't have much time left, you know?" Ann pointed at the Student Huntsmen as Futaba stuttered while shifting her head all over the room.

"You guys will know what'll happen if you guys try and look... right?" Makoto glared at the males in the room, even Sojiro sweat-dropped.

"I guess we can drop by tomorrow. We'll see you then?" Jaune suggested.

"I think we've have our own swimsuit, so we'll catch you all later." Ruby agreed as they decided to head out for the night.

* * *

8/10 **Granbell Hotel** Morning

The Beacon Student were all gathered in the lobby. "All right everyone, I assume you all know that we will be leaving after you all enjoyed your time. We won't be able to return to the hotel afterwards, understood?" Seta addressed them.

"You got it teach. Sun's out with the guns out!" Sune reassured as he fist-pumped along with his teammates, excluding Neptune who looked ill for some reason.

"So are they gonna meet us here or are we coming to them?" Jaune mentioned.

"They told us they come. And speaking of which." Yang pointed at another group coming into the lobby.

"'Sup ya'll! Ready to hit the beach!?" Ryuji waved at them.

"Ryuji! Guys! You showed up!" Ruby exclaimed as she peaked behind to see Futaba taking cover behind Akira.

"She a friend of yours?" Sun asked as the Faunus girl glared at him.

"That's Futaba-chan. She's a little bit shy, so think you go can easy on her?" Ann asked.

"Hey, no problem! I'm always gentle on delicate folks!" Sun assured.

"You sound like a pedo." Futaba commented as some of the guys staggered in response.

"A... Pedo, what's that?" Sun wondered.

"I'm uncertain myself." Yusuke shook his head who also wondered what the word meant.

"Uh... try not to read into that." Blake elbowed Sun.

"So, shall we?" Makoto suggested as they were guide the to the beach.

* * *

8/10 **Beach** Daytime

The beach was incredibly crowded as the guys in their swimsuits were waiting on the girls in the dressing room. "Man it's packed..." Ryuji groaned while he ate his Topsicle.

"Sorry for the wait." Ann apologized as the guys turned to the girls in their swimsuits. Their swimsuits looked fabulous as the guys were staring all the way. Especially Ryuji who made funny gestures at Ann. "Ahahahahaha! Got a better opinion of me now? What, cat got your tongue?" Ann laughed as she jokingly jabbed at him.

"We look pretty good don'tcha think?" Nora asked Ren and Jaune.

"Fabulous." Ren said with a thumbs up.

"Yeah, you guys look beautiful." Jaune agreed.

"Aw... thanks!" Pyrrha blushed.

"Are we missing one?" Akira mentioned as they look back at the changing room.

"Futaba, you done yet?" Ruby asked as she sees a pair of feet behind the cover of the changing room as Futaba struggles to step out into their view. She had a cute figure, but she had a towel wrapped over her whole head, leaving her cat ears out. "Uh... Futaba...?" Ruby stuttered as the group were dumb-strucked as they see her.

"Thish ish perfecsh!" Futaba exclaimed with her muffled voice as she tip-toed her way to the group.

"You're being ridiculous, Futaba." Blake sighed as Ruby decides to help guide her from veering away.

"Yeah, there's nothing perfect about that." Ruby reassured as she helped Futaba out of the towel as it let down her hair as her cat ears twitched.

The group were smiling as they watched as Futaba corrected her glasses. She then looked around and smiled back at then.

"Man... it's so hooooot..." Ryuji continued to complained.

"There's a lot of people here... Are you okay, Futaba?" Makoto asked.

"I'm fine. You guys are here." Futaba assured in her stutter.

"It's almost lunchtime." Ann mentioned.

"You think they got those bento like the ones at the convenient stores?" Jaune asked as they overhear a couple.

"Er... so are we gonna grab a bite?" Yang asked.

"Right, we'll go get some stuff." Jaune suggested. Although they noticed Futaba going into her bag to reveal one of her favorite bowls she brought with her.

"You're eating that even here!?" Yusuke questioned.

"My staple food." Futaba answered proudly.

* * *

Later, they finished up their lunches and now resting their stomachs. "This should be a familiar flavor, yet how does it taste so good?" Ren wondered.

"Is the ramen good?" Ryuji asked Makoto.

"A little salty, but..." Makoto muttered.

"Not feelin' well or something?" Ryuji continued to asked.

"You just don't get it, do you, Ryuji? When a girl's in a swimsuit, she wants to look as slim as possible." Morgana meowed. "Still, you're worrying too much. Did you make sure you eat breakfast?"

"Mona lacks tact." Futaba stated as Team RWBY agreed.

"So, what do we do now? Should we play some volleyball or something?" Jaune asked.

"Sure, I'm in!" Yang declared as she punched her knuckles.

"Count me in!" Sun agreed as well.

"Volleyball! Perfect!" Neptune eagerly agreed. "So what about you ladies, care to join us?" He flirted.

"Oh, sorry. Us girls already made plans to ride banana boat." Ann mentioned.

"We could only rent a three-person one. Sorry." Makoto apologized as she, Ann, and Futaba, stood up.

"Ah... seriously?" Ryuji groaned.

"Why don't you keep an eye on our stuff?" Ann suggested.

"Hell no! Why you gotta treat us like that!? We're celebrities makin' headlines! You should treat us better!" Ryuji complained.

"Celebrities? You mean like us Huntsmen?" Sun wondered. "Hey man, I think you're gonna have to become a Huntsman before you can call yourself one. I mean, check out my pecks!" He showed his muscles along with Neptune.

"You're such a show off, Sun." Blake chuckled.

"I do think they're not bad in the Metaverse, but in reality... Strange isn't it?" Makoto muttered as she wondered.

"I don't know about the Huntsmen, but our guys can steal treasures, but not a girl's heart at all." Ann laughed.

"B-But... lady Ann..." Morgana stuttered in for us!

"Can we get to the Banana boat already?" Futaba asked.

"Oh, sorry. We'll go now." Makoto assured as they left.

"We'll switch when we're done. Keep an eye on our stuff for us!" Ann requested.

"Right, have fun!" Sun waved back at them and then turned to the group. "So, whose serving?" He asked.

"Do we even have a volleyball?" Ren wondered.

* * *

A couple hours passed as the Male Phantom Thieves were watching their Huntsmen friends going at it at volleyball. "It must be amazing to be a Huntsman. Risking their lives in their perilous journey." Yusuke observed.

"Dammit... They don't get how amazin' we are. We risk our lived bein' Phantom Thieves. There's no way we're the same as other guys here." Ryuji complained. "Shouldn't we be havin' more good times in reality too!?"

"More than what our Huntsmen friends are doing?" Akira assumed what Ryuji meant. "I... guess you have a point..."

"Right? Don't you agree, Yusuke?" Ryuji included.

"Well... if you put it that way, you may be right. Perhaps our skills can compete against even the Huntsmen, then..." The Fox Faunus muttered.

"What brought this up, Ryuji? Is it because of what Ann said?" Akira wondered.

"Well... Ann and the others don't get it 'cause they're always around us. And our huntsmen friends are already considered friends, even though they got mad skills and all.

"Hey, how do we get lady Ann to notice how amazing we are as Phantom Thieves?" Morgana suggested.

"Well, we gotta steal... you-know-what." Ryuji mentioned, yet the other three didn't know what he meant.

"Like swimsuits?" Akira guessed.

Wha- Dude, no. No! You wanna get call by the cops!? I'm talking about people's hearts!" Ryuji exclaimed. "Ann made fun of us and all. Let's show her what we're made of." He suggested.

"I see. I just need to prove my skills in reality as well..." Morgana agreed.

"Let's steal all the hearts with the skills we've honed as Phantom Thieves!" Ryuji declared. "I'm sure girls will be all over us, considering the vibes we give off!"

"Very well, let's do this. Pulling off our work in reality doesn't sound bad." Yusuke followed as he stood up.

"So.. Mona, you're in charge of watching over our stuff, okay?" Ryuji appointed as he and the other guys left.

"Huh? H-Hey what the hell! Get back here! Don't leave me behind!" Morgana demanded while it left with deaf ears.

* * *

It took them an hour to make any attempt of flirt with women, only to be staring at the sea with their failed attempts on them. "... I dunno... The ocean just looks kinda bland to me..." Ryuji muttered.

"You feeling better?" Akira asked.

"Don't say that like i'm the only one who messed up! We were goin' at it like a team, right?"

"Hm... I've sensed a presence staring at us for some time now... Are we being followed?" Yusuke wondered as his fox ears twitched.

"W-Wait... Does this mean girls're gonna hit on us!?" Ryuji asked as his eyes lit up.

Yet Yusuke realized something else and left as Jaune and Ren approached them. "Hey guys!" Jaune waved to them.

"Is Yusuke going somewhere?" Ren asked.

"... What... you guys aren't girls..." Ryuji muttered as his expectation shrunk.

"Wha... did... you wanted us to crossdress?" Jaune asked.

"'Effing no! Dammit...!" Ryuji barked as he fell onto his knees and cried.

"We were trying to hit on women... there wasn't any luck..." Akira scratch his hair.

"I can imagined." Jaune agree.

"Seriously... how did you guys managed to get you own girl? Is it because you guys are huntsmen?" Ryuji questioned.

"Uh... Me and Nora go way back. We know each other quite well already." Ren mentioned.

"Pyrrha and I? Well... under some misunderstandings... We eventually got to know each other enough and all..." Jaune muttered as he blushed.

Ryuji: "For real...?"

"That's very surprising, considering Pyrrha is a popular person, even in Japan." Akira added.

"Yeah... you'd understand the real person than what other people see. I think that's how we gotten close." Jaune assumes.

"You guys are lucky bastards, 'ya know?" Ryuji commented.

"Wasn't exactly our intention at first." Ren reassured as he and Jaune chuckled.

"See, I told you they'd be here! I could sense them it deep within my loins!" A deep voice rung as Ryuji felt a shiver down his spine as they turned to the voice.

"There's even double of cute little boys! They're just begging to to be hit on!" A brawny voiced-man agreed. They saw them acting like women, and they also wore swimwear.

"Oh shit...!" Ryuji grunted.

"You know them?" Jaune asked.

"Th-These guys from Shinjuku!" Ryuji muttered in a frightened tone. "Why are they here!?"

"Oh my! I can't believe we've been reunited in such a stunning place!" The Scruffy Romantic said suggestively.

"Smells like destiny to me!" The Beefy Trendsetter agreed. As they stepped closer to the teenagers, Akira and Ryuji flinched and staggered leaving Jaune and Ren oblivious. "We're the fashion police! If you don't answer our questions, we'll take you away!" He declared.

"So, which of us do you think is more manly?" The Scruffy Romantic asked.

"More manly?" Jaune wondered as he looks to Ren who was also confused to the question. "I don't know, I think you both are?"

"A trick question like that? Seems reasonable you both are what you think you guys are." Ren agreed.

"The hell are you guys even answerin' them!?" Ryuji questioned him.

"Ding ding! That is correct! We are both lovely!" The Scruffy Romantic answered as he narrowed his eyes down towards Akira and Ryuji. "And you two interfered with our duties by not answering the question! I sentences you both to... stripping!"

Jaune/Ren: "Huh?"

Akira/Ryuji: "What!?"

The students staggered by the declaration, especially Akira and Ryuji. "Oooh, my fashionista skills would be perfect for this!" The Beefy Trendsetter gazed at them lewdly. "Now hands above your heads!" He demanded.

A-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Ryuji scream as he and Akira sprinted away really fast.

"The suspects are escaping! Catch them!" The Beefy Trendsetter commanded as they chased them.

As the guys left Jaune and Ren, the Student Huntsmen came up to them as they see their Shujin friends being chased by the pair of men. "Did we miss something?" Sun asked.

"Dunno. You guys heard of the fashion police?" Ren asked as they all shook their heads.

A few minutes later, both Akira and Ryuji returned to the group. "I think... we lost'em..." Ryuji gasped for air.

"...? Wasn't Yusuke with you guys?" Ruby asked as they looked around until they see him walking towards them with... lobsters in his hands.

"Oh! So this is where you two were. I've been searching for you." Yusuke said, holding a pair of lobsters in his hands.

"Yusuke... what is with those lobsters?" Ren asked.

"Are... you going to cook them?" Yang wondered as Blake silently gazed upon a possible fish dish.

"Of course not. While you were busy with your interrogation, I found these beautiful specimens on sale. And so, I decided to spend the last of my money on them." Yusuke explained as they all sweat-dropped with dumbfounded expressions.

"... Why would you do such a thing!?" Weiss questioned.

"Man, you're real hopeless when it comes to cash..." Ryuji sighed and realized something. Wait, you were watchin' us!? Why didn't you help!? Especially you guys!" He questioned and glared at Jaune and Ren.

"What? I thought you guys were joking around with them." Jaune assumed.

"Apologies, but I was entranced. The moment I set my eyes on this distinct shape, I was in love. I haven't had my very core shaken as vigorously as this since the first time Ann entered my gaze."

"Um... good for you?" Pyrrha asked as Ryuji sighed.

* * *

"We're here with friends." Makoto told a pair of men hitting on her and Ann.

"C'mon, don't lie to us, baby. How about you come for a nice cruise on our boat?" The Pretentious Man seduced.

There's going to be a party too. Tons of celebrities and industry people will be coming along." The Wealthy-looking Faunus added as well.

"Are you even listening to us!?" Ann questioned irritatingly.

"Sorry 'bout they wait." Ruby and her friends gathered back to their spot as they see the pair pf men with Ann and Makoto.

"Huh, so you were serious about being here with friends." Pretentious Man realized as he noticed some girls in the group.

That's what we've been saying from the start!" Ann exclaimed.

"Don't you find it boring spending your time with kids like them?" The Wealthy-looking Man questioned.

"Why? Aren't we around the same age?" Nora asked.

"It's far more interesting than anything involving you two." Makoto assured.

"What was that?" The Pretentious Man questioned irritatingly.

"Hey! Back off already. Unless you want to deal with a bunch of kids." Yang threatened as the students gathered around them, walling the adults away from Ann and Makoto.

"H-Hey, let's just let the children have fun with fellow children..." The Wealthy-looking man stuttered, feeling the pressure upon them from the so-called "children". "Sorry for your time, we'll be going now." He reassured as they left.

"Wait, why are we walking away from a bunch of brats!?" The Pretentious Man questioned while being pushed away.

"Because half those brats are huntsmen, we won't even stand a chance!" The Wealhy-looking Man exclaimed until they were out of earshot from the students.

"What creeps..." Ann berated.

"At least one of them knew what we're capable of." Yang reassured.

"Thanks for coming in like that. Those guys just wouldn't stop pestering us." Makoto sighed with relief.

"You did well to hold them off." Ren praised them.

"They got lucky. I would of broke their legs." Nora said otherwise.

"Please don't tell me that breaking legs is a thing to her..." Ann pleaded.

"It's a thing..." Jaune reassured.

"Yeah, if things'd gone bad, we would've sent'em to the hospita- U-Uhhh... never mind. It's nothing." Ryuji agreed, but dropped the subject.

"By the way, where are Futaba and Morgana?" Yusuke wondered.

"Ooooh! Are those lobsters? One in each hand!?" Futaba appeared with Morgana.

"I was wondering about that myself." Ann asked also.

"Are you going to make them into sashimi? Or perhaps roast them whole!?" Morgana questioned with stars in his eyes, eagerly eyeing the lobsters.

"I like dem lobsters..." Blake muttered as she and Futaba tries to snatch the lobsters off of Yusuke.

"Enough of your vile postulations! These are purely for the sake of visual appreciation!" Yusuke demanded as he keeps his lobsters out of reach from his friends' hands.

"We did tons of stuff today. All in all I guess comin' to the beach was pretty worth." Ryuji commented as they all agreed while Blake and Futaba were still reaching for Yusuke's lobsters.

* * *

8/10 **Beach** Daytime

As the sun was setting on the horizon, the students were about to call it a day as Team RWBY and Team JNPR were hanging out with the Phantom Thieves. "It's almost time that we head out soon." Pyrrha mentioned.

"We should probably start heading home, as well." Makoto agreed.

"So how's like bein' Phantom Thieves?" Ryuji asked the Student Huntsmen.

"It was all right, I suppose... I'm just not up for the stealing hearts part." Weiss scoffed her thoughts.

"Too bad we won't be able to help help you guys. You guys aren't bad people." Yang assured.

"We are blessed to know that you guys acknowledge us for what we do. Truly." Yusuke replied.

"Futaba seemed fine in the crowd too, so it looks like she's overcome her last exercise." Ann reviewed as they look to where Futaba was as she and Ruby were watching a small crab strolling by.

"Hey, Futaba. We're goin' home. Stop standin' around and help us pack up." Ryuji hollered to her.

"'Kay!" Ruby reassured as she turns to Futaba as she stares into the horizon. "Is everything okay, Futaba?" She asked as the others ought to hear her out.

"You know... All this time, I thought that it was my fault that my mom died. It's because everyone said that I killed her. Everyone looked at me thinking I was a murderer." Futaba contemplated. "I ended up hating this world. That's why I shut myself in and covered my ears. I wished... I wished my mom would come back to life."

"In a way, I think I know the feeling." Ruby agreed. Even she wished to see her mother's face again.

"Sometimes I'd wake up and think it was all a dream. But nothing had changed in the world. That's why I'd sleep again. It'd be a repeat of that that..." Futaba sighed as she stood up. "I loved my mom. I wanted to become like her. How she work late into the night, how she'd wake up early and make me a boxed lunch every day, how she'd do her best to further her research, how she scolded me for peeking at her notes."

"Sound a lot like you have one heck of a super-mom." Yang laughed weakly.

"Those notes you mentioned... It was cognitive psience, was it?" Makoto mentioned as Futaba turned to to face the others to explain.

"'The cognitive world can become distorted through desires. If it becomes distorted, a person begins to exhibiting problematic behavior in reality.'" Futaba explained and continued. "'That Cognitive world disappears when you remove its core, and further problematic actions stop.'"

"I... Uh..." Jaune stuttered as he was trying to figure out what she said.

"Isn't that about Palaces...?" Pyrrha guessed.

"That's inside the Metaverse! She knew about that?" Morgana exclaimed.

"It made no sense back then, but now I understand, after it actually happened to me. All I thought about was my mom. I was trapped in a cognitive labyrinth." Futaba told them. I couldn't get out. There was nothing I could do by myself."

"That's why you asked us to steal your heart? That's a huge jump in logic in so many ways." Blake realized.

"At first, I didn't believe the rumors about the Phantom Thieves... that they steal hearts. But I overheard you accidentally. I learned that you guys were near me." Futaba added.

"Overheard? Ah, the hack...So why were you listening in on Leblanc in the first place?" Yusuke muttered.

"I had to keep an eye on Sojiro. Make sure he was actually working." Futaba answered plainly.

"Talk about an awful hobby..." Ryuji commented.

"You were talking about stealing hearts. When I heard hat, I was so happy I jumped up and down. I thought, maybe the Phantom Thieves could cure my heart." Futaba continued.

"You couldn't told them from the start, could you?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, thy might've been wary of me if I asked out of nowhere. And besides you could've been bad guys. That's why I cautiously got contact with you. I checked many times to see how you'd react."

"And you hacked Ruby's scroll because...?" Weiss wondered.

"I heard that she is a huntress. I was told the Huntsmen were trustworthy people so I thought I can get her to reach you guys." Futaba answered.

"So it wasn't because my scroll is outdated?" Ruby asked.

"No, it totally was." Futaba immediately replied.

"What!?" Ruby staggered.

"Either way, you definitely had us twisted around your little finger." Makoto assured.

"But, Futaba-chan, you didn't talk to anyone besides Boss for a long time, right? You must've need a lot of courage to contact the Phantom Thieves." Ann stated.

"... There were two reasons for it. One was Medjed's taunt. The Phantom Thieves were so pitiful, it frustrated me. I would've been in trouble if they got disbanded too..."

"You were our best hope." Ren agreed.

"The other was what I heard through wiretapping Leblanc. Sojiro was being blamed with lies, like abusing me. He was being threatened to spill everything about my mom..." Futaba explained.

"Talk about makin' shit up." Ryuji scoffed as Makoto assumes as much.

"It made me sad, and it hurt. I thought, I have to save Sojiro. I gotta do something.

"And that why you took action?" Nora followed.

"But the Phantom Thieves... I didn't think you guys would be taking such risks for me." The impressed Faunus stated. "I didn't think you'd worry about me so much. I'm sorry that I acted like I doubted you guys."

"Do you believe us now?" Ann asked.

"Yeah, I can tell. You aren't bad guys." Futaba answered. "That's why I have a request. Let me join your team." She requested.

"There's nothin' to join. You're already one of us." Ryuji assured.

"I'll be honest. Changing people's hearts isn't my goal. I want to learn what happened to my mom... The reason why she was killed." Futaba mentioned as they all focused their attention deeply.

"Killed...?" Jaune muttered.

"It was written in her notes. Should her self in the cognitive world die, the self in the real world would lose consciousness." The young Faunus explained.

"Is this about the mental shutdowns that's been happening?" Blake wondered.

"Then the criminal that Kaneshiro mentioned and what Gaius told us..." Yusuke followed up.

"Yes, that could be the case." Makoto agreed. "I don't like pursuing this line of thought, but perhaps your mother's Shadow was..."

"I don't know for sure... but right before my mom died, she didn't seemed right." Futaba recalled.

"In what way?" Ruby asked.

"No matter how much I talked to her, she wouldn't answer back. And she didnt jump into the road. It was more like she collapsed and fell in. That's why I thought what was written in the notes was real and looked into it." Futaba explained. "I read books, checked theses that were released online... I even snuck into the networks of various research labs to look at classified data."

"That... seems dangerous." Jaune sweat-dropped.

"That's why you're good at hacking... What kind of brain do you have?" Ryuji questioned with a sigh.

"But, I didn't figure anything out. My mom's research was nowhere to be found." Futaba shook her head and gave a stern expression. "She was killed by someone, and her research was treated like it never existed. I bet it's them, those adults in the black suits who read the fake suicide note. I'll never forgive them." She hissed at the thought.

"Reading that fake suicide note... what a cruel method to a child, too..." Weiss scoffed with disgust.

"So if I stay with you guys, I think I can find out more about that world. Then eventually, it might even lead to those men in black. It's a super-personal reason I wanna join you... Is that okay? Or would I just be dead weight?" Futaba asked.

"If anything, you're dependable. Ain't that right, Mona?" Ryuji asked looking down at the cat.

"Why are you looking at me? Are yu trying to say I'm inadequate!?" Morgana questioned back.

"Well she's more useful than you, as a matter of fact." Ryuji joked.

"Hey that's inexcusable!" Morgana hissed as they began to argue. The others sighed by the fact that a teenager is arguing with a cat.

"This is what our Phantom Thieves are like, but I hope we get along, Futaba." Makoto hoped.

"Let's leave those two be... Why don't we lose no time time and decide of Futaba's code name?" Ann suggested.

Futaba: "What's that?"

"It's not cool if we called each other by our real names." Ann explained the reason behind it and everyone in the group told them their own code names to Futaba.

"In Futaba's case... 'Hacker' wouldn't be right, would it?" Makoto guessed.

Ann: "'Mech'?"

Yusuke: "'PC'?"

Futaba: "No."

"Maybe... Nerd?" Jaune guessed but was punched in the gut by Ruby.

"What are you? Cardin?" Ruby complained as Jaune's suggestion was completely shot down.

"Why don't we go literal and call her 'Goggles'?" Morgana suggested.

"Super lame. You've got no taste, kitty." Futaba denied.

"Ha ha! In your face!" Ryuji laughed out loud.

"Do you have any good ideas for code names, Akira?" Ann asked.

"Hmm... Well, I got Glasses, Internet, and maybe Pharaoh... how about them?" Akira listed down.

"All too simple." Futaba clearly denied.

Ruby was pondering the code name as she looks up in the sky... which she soon discovers an ideal code name "Maybe... Oracle?"

"Oh yeah! With My vision, I'll guide you all to victory." She declared.

"Oracle it is then!" Ruby cheered.

"Sounds great!" Jaune agreed.

Ren: "Fitting as well."

"Then Futaba'll be Oracle." Ryuji declared.

"Still, I never dreamed that the rumored Phantom Thieves would be so close. And Foreign Huntsmen abroad!" Futaba squealed.

"Same goes for you." Ruby agreed.

"To think you'd be the daughter of a Metaverse researcher... Talk about a mysterious fate..." Morgana muttered to himself.

"Hey! The Professor said were gonna head out soon!" Sun exclaimed off-screen. "She want's us to meet at the hotel front!"

"We'll be there!" Blake reassured.

"Oh right! You guys s'pose to heading out tonight, right?" Ryuji recalled.

"Yeah, sorry, but we may have disband this little alliance with the Phantom Thieves." Ruby apologizes.

"Think nothing of it. Your aid was incredibly beneficial." Yusuke reassured.

"Oh... yeah... you guys are currently on vacation aren't you." Futaba frowned.

"Hey, don't worry about us. You can always hack me up again, it you want." Ruby assured.

"'Hack you'...? You make it sound like I like butchering stuff..." Futaba interpret as Ruby flinched as the other laughed around her. "I know how contact you... and thanks for being my friend."

"It is time we return." Ren suggested as the Phantom Thieves and Student Huntsmen began to walk away from the ocean.

"So were ya'll going now?" Ryuji asked.

"We were considering to choose a school that's closer in distance... and I think Professor Narukami mentioned Inaba." Weiss mentioned

"Yu and the other's hometown we were told." Yang added.

"Well, considering my probation, I can't exactly go as far. But feel free to stop by Leblanc if you guys are in town." Akira rest assured.

"Best of luck on your heart-stealing endeavors" Ruby waved back as the groups went their separate ways, believing that they'll meet again.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, I am so sorry for the delay. Work had me working to the bone. Anyways, I am aware of the P5R updates, they have those cool and funny team attacks. RWBY has those in their shows. And I'm still waiting to find a way to add Kasumi into this fanfic, I am totally cannoning her into this, considering the game is a long while away, I should be able to acquire more information about her by the time I return the RWBY characters back to Shibuya, after P4's Arena incident and P3's trip (And I do have a plot in mind).**

 **Forgot to add, I have also watch the Death Battle with Weiss vs. Mitsuru. It seems I'll have to revise everything between the powers of Personas and Semblance... Personally, it was obvious that Mitsuru would win.**

 **Nonetheless, it is clear that you all have spoken and the votes goes towards Inaba.**

 **We know well enough that General Teddie made up subtitles for the P4's Investigation Team, so here's the subtitles for the Student Huntsmen... so far;**

 **The Cookie-Addict Weapons Otaku; Ruby Rose**

 **The Imperious Ice Queen; Weiss Schnee**

 **The Extremist Savage Fanatic; Blake Belladonna**

 **The Tomboy of Burning Puns and Poor Anger Management; Yang Xiao Long**

 **Oh yeah, Yang's title is that long.**

 **I would like to figure out Team JNPR's subtitles and so far I have;**

 **The Rookie Wannabe-Hero; Jaune Arc**

 **The Yandere Trigger-Happy Havoc; Nora Valkyrie  
(Reference to some of her aspects from Chibi.)**

 **And I'm still figuring out Ren's and Pyrrha's, what do you guys think?**

 **Now that I think about it. You know about Salem at this point. If we can't kill her, then would even be possible to change her heart? That was a big "What-if" when I brought in Persona 5 at the time we heard about Salem. Not a bad blindspot, I'd say.**

 **Anyways, here's more Omake skits. R &R!**

* * *

Dance Practice

"Man, you guys remember the dance we had last semester? That was SO much fun." Yang asked Kanji and Pyrrha as the walked along Beacon's school grounds.

"It was a wonderful evening." Pyrrha agreed.

"Hell, I never would've come if ya guys didn't invited me. It was a blast!" Kanji also agreed.

"Yeah, you and Jaune wore a dress and you guys all did that AWESOME dance together. You guys were SO in sync. Your guy's teams must really have their act together, 'cause there's no way we'd be able to improvise something on the spot like that." Yang boasted as Pyrrha and Kanji sweat-dropped.

"Right...! Super... Spontaneous..." Pyrrha laughed weakly as Kanji said nothing, only remembering the horrid training they went through.

* * *

While Rise was counting the rhythm that her Teammates and Team JNPR were dancing to the music, she and Ren notices Pyrrha dancing a little sluggish.

"STOP!" Ren demanded as Rise stopped the music playing. Ren sighed as Pyrrha whined, knowing that she the one to blame. "Pyrrha, you I love you. But kick-step, kick-step, body-roll... IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!" He exclaimed as Pyrrha flinched. "IT"S KICK-STEP, KICK-STEP, BODY-ROLL!

"Gah, I can't work like this!" Jaune scoffed.

"Seriously, this is bullshit!" Kanji rudely agreed.

"And where do you two think YOU'RE going?" Rise questioned.

"ANYWHERE BUT HERE!" Jaune exclaimed.

"OH NO YOU GUYS DON'T! WE HAVE A FITTING TO GO TO AFTER THIS!" Ren exclaimed. "You haven't lost those seven pounds have you?"

"Y-YOU DON"T KNOW THAT!" Jaune retorted.

"I KNOW THERE'S AN EMPTY BAG OF CHIPS UNDER YOUR BED!" Ren exclaimed. "And Teddie has been the one buying them at the Junes district, sharing with you and Kanji!" He added with Kanji and Teddie staggering in response.

"Kanji-kun, Teddie, is there something you both wish to tell us?" Naoto asked sternly.

While Kanji flinched, Jaune started to whimper under the stress and pressure followed by Nora and Teddie crying, bursting in tears.

* * *

That time was torture to them as Kanji and Pyrrha recalled. "Yeah, We're just... really good friends!" Pyrrha stated with cringed smile.

"Yeah right..." Kanji stuttered.

* * *

Teenage Faunus Ninja Cat Girls

In a dark room four feline faunus gathered in preparations for their mission. One surrounded by candles as she slices the flames out.

Another on her laptop, scouring the camera feeds everywhere monitoring their target.

One checking her weapon, adding a grappling hook attachment to her arsenal.

And the last one was sitting as she drinks the last of her tea. "It is time, do we all agreed?" Yukiko asked.

"Indeed." Naoto agreed as placed her weapon on her holster.

"Our target is moving nearby. Ready to go?" Futaba asked their acting team leader.

"We will not fail in our mission." Blake declared as a door open with Jaune peeking his head in.

"Hey guys, can I ask for some help with this homework?" Jaune asked. But then Blake toss her blade and pin Jaune's homework to the wall, out of his hand. "It's cool, I'll figure it out..." He reassured as he walked out, getting the picture.

"We could've helped him." Naoto reminded.

"It is imperative that we complete our mission regardless. We will aid him at a later time." Blake reassured.

"Very well." Naoto sighed as she Blake and Yukiko pull out a smoke bomb as they all exclaimed...

"NINJA VANISH!" The three whispered as the smoke bomb explode as they disappeared from where they stood.

* * *

As Ruby and Weiss were walking down the sidewalk, Ruby noticed something off around her. "Hey Weiss, youy ever get the feeling you're being watched?" She asks.

"Of course! People can't get enough of me! You'll get use to it." Weiss assured boastfully.

"That's not what I meant." Ruby shook her head while Naoto's head peeks out behind Ruby.

"It seems the hunt begins..." Naoto whispered behind Ruby's ear and disappears by a smoke bomb. Ruby hear her but when she looks back, no one was there as she began to feel agitated as fled to Weiss's side.

* * *

At a pool, Ruby was feeling anxious by what she heard and even staggered at a bubble popping. "D-Did you something?" She asked.

"Probably. I can hear so many things all the time." Yusuke assured as he continues to draw a nearby flower.

"Something's giving me the creeps... I need to get out of here!" Ruby exclaimed as she rushes away.

Oblivious to Ruby, Yukiko was watching her from on top of the life-guard seat above, with her traditional umbrella covering her from the sun's rays. "Escaping is not an option..." Yukiko stated as she was about to vanish until she and Yusuke over a distant yelp. "Did that sounded like Jaune-kun just now?"

"It seems he trip and fell... I pity that fellow." Yusuke sighed.

"Anyways..." Yukiko eventually used the smoke bomb to disappear.

* * *

That afternoon, Ruby was completely panicking over something stalking her, drinking a number of coffee, twitching all the while. "All day long, I've felt like someone's been following me, but every time I look I miss them! They're too fast!" Ruby exclaimed to Nora.

"Hm... Maybe Blake's seen them. She, Naoto, and Yukiko, can see everything up there." Nora suggested.

"Up... there?" Ruby wondered as she looks on top of the ceiling cabinets to reveal all three of them staring down on her.

"We see you, Ruby Rose..." Blake whispered.

"AAAHHHHHHH, CEILING CATS!" Ruby scream as she toss several cups at them as Blake deflects them away, breaking them as Blake chases Ruby around like a ninja.

"Honestly, why are we doing this when we could just ask her." Naoto wondered, shaking her head in annoyance.

"This seems fun." Yukiko said otherwise as Nora continues to eat her meal.

Soon enough, Ruby manages to evade them by taking cover in an empty classroom. "They''re coming for me... I know it!" Ruby mutters fearfully.

"We're already here." Blake told her as Ruby sees her on the table with Yukiko and Naoto appeared at the young Huntress's flanks.

"The time has come..." Blake declared as she steps down from the table. "... for you to return my book. You've had it for months." She told the bewildered Ruby.

"It's high time your rent's due!" Yukiko played along.

"Senpai... is that really necessary...?" Naoto sighed.

"Book? Oh! Here you go! I read all the good part." Ruby assured with a wink.

"Mission accomplished. And now... Ninja Vanish!" Blake and Yukiko made crazy poses for some reason with Naoto sweat-dropping.

"Blake-kun, we don't have anymore smoke bombs." Naoto reminded her.

"Yeah, I can still see you guys." Ruby agreed.

"Oh right..." Blake realized and then immediately pulled out her scroll. "Ninja Taxi!" Blake exclaimed as she pressed a few buttons and the Persona Necronomicon burst through the wall with tentacle limbs coming out.

"Hello! Goodbye!" Futaba exclaimed as she snatched up Blake, Yukiko, and Naoto as the made their escape... by puncturing another hole in the wall.

"... Wait, what?" Ruby baffled by their sudden escape only to realize the damage has been done to the classroom and pretended that she wasn't there, leaving the classroom a wreck.

* * *

 ***Fall of Anger - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There - Shoji Meguro**


	13. Where's the Investigation Team?

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **Where's the Investigation Team?**

No Date Confirmed **Unknown Headquarters** Daytime

"The next place we went to... it's where Yu and the other live. Their hometown." Ruby told Gaius.

"His friend's hometown. Yu was a city-folk, remember?" Gaius reminded.

"Oh right...!" Ruby recalls but then remembers something else. "Oh wait... there was something going on at Inaba too!"

"As I was told, there was an unusual TV broadcast that was going on on certain nights." Gaius mentioned.

"They said it went on during raining nights." Ruby added.

"I take it that they told you about this 'Midnight Channel'?" Gaius asked.

"Not exactly, they told us long before we arrived to this Kingdom. Now that I think of it, they were around when we arrived in Inaba. Mr. Dojima assumed that they were enjoying their summer vacation somewhere." Ruby mentioned.

"Did they spend their time at a beach that weren't informed." Gaius questioned.

"No they... Wait, they were participating in some tournament. Something called the... P-1 Grand Prix?" Ruby recalls.

"Did you and your friends partake as well?" Gaius asked. "Why don't you start from the beginning of that incident?" He suggested.

"Hmmm... Let's see... It all began when we arrived in Inaba that night. On a slow train." Ruby stated as she continues her recollection.

* * *

8/10 **Inaba, Yasoinaba Train Station** Evening

 _"Now pulling into Yaso-Inaba. This will be the last stop. Yaso-Inaba."_ The Train Conductor declared. Hours after they enjoyed their time at the beach, the Beacon students arrived at the town of Inaba. Half the student body were all yawning after a long train ride with multiple stops.

"Ugh... it felt like it took forever...!" Nora complained as she got off first.

"And how is it cold all of a sudden...?" Jaune sneezed.

"Unusual cloud formations, I was told. But that shouldn't prevent us from enjoying our trip." Seta stated as she spots a bus waiting for them with the driver waving back at her with a sign saying Beacon Academy on it written in Japanese. "Hello! Were you the who'll take us to the Inn?" Seta asked.

"Yes... although... I thought you guys would arrived in sooner. It's almost midnight." The Chauffeur recalled.

"Unfortunately some of the trains, on the way here, still had technical difficulties..." Seta explained as several raindrops fell on the group.

"It's gonna rain soon. Shall we?" The Chauffeur as he implored them to ride his bus.

As they through the night, the students looked upon the town with the nightlights on as the rain began to pour. "Pretty good sight, yes?" The Chauffeur asked the students. "This town looks relatively peaceful with a view like this."

"I'd never seen something like this, especially near midnight, too." Ruby agreed.

"It feels like I wanna stay up." Ren agreed with a nostalgia kicking him.

"Midnight..." The Chauffer muttered.

"What is it?" Blake asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's some rumor that keeps being brought up again." The Chauffeur mentioned.

"Well... think we could hear it?" Ruby asked with the bus driver.

"Meh, I've been hearing gossips with on-goers something about some broadcasting show going on during midnight during raining nights." The Chauffer explained as he took a turn on the road. "Haven't heard those rumors circling around ever since last year. That Midnight Channel-thing was really popular back then.

The... The Midnight Channel?!" Jaune stuttered.

"Last... year?" Ren muttered.

"Yeah, the same rumor that was popular last year? 'Course you guys wouldn't know that..." The Bus driver narrowed his eyes back to the road.

"Oh right... that 'midnight channel' thing happened here and we almost gotten caught in it." Jaune realized.

"The place where the Midnight Channel originated...?" Ruby wondered.

* * *

8/10 **Amagi Inn** Evening

They eventually arrived at the Inn Yukiko mentioned. The lobby has that traditional atmosphere as they see through the dim lights.

"Can't believe a bunch of cats actually own this place..." Cardin muttered as his teammates show similar disgust.

"Do you four prefer to sleep outside, like rats." Seta remarked as the other students giggled. "Cardin-kun you have to lose that habit casting the Faunus low. Discrimination is a crime in this Kingdom and you wouldn't want be sent to prison, right?" She turns to Team CRDL as they remained silent.

"Welcome to the Amagi Inn." A female Faunus with cat ears, in a kimono greeted as she bowed with her introductions. "Narukami-san, did something happened during your trip here?" She asked.

"Kasai-san, unfortunately, there has been several train delays, nothing more, fortunately." Seta bowed back. "Do we still have our reservations?"

"Yes, we can begin checking you in." The worker, Kasai, went behind the counter as they began checking in.

"If I may, is it true that Yukiko's family runs this place?" Weiss asked.

"That's correct, their Inn is the pride of Inaba. I would not see it in any other way." Kasai stated with confidence.

"Is it possible to ask if Yukiko's around. We wanted to let her know we're here." Blake requested.

"I wish I could, but Yukiko hasn't been back yet." Kasai stated.

"What? Where did she go? How long was she gone?" Yang asked.

"I'm uncertain. It looked like she was planning on doing something today and had not told us." Kasai answered.

"And she hasn't returned yet? Shouldn't you be worried?" Weiss added.

"This isn't her first time she disappeared for a few day. Even her friend, Chie-chan came by to pick her up. We know her well enough that Yukiko is ok." Kasai reassured.

"I see..." Jaune sighed.

"At any case, here is your pair of keys, one for the males and females." Kasai mentioned. "Speaking of which, I hoped you were not soaked right now, our baths are all closed for the night."

They made their way to their rooms as they see an empty space with everything that Inns should have; a TV, bathrooms and a kitchen. The one thing that baffles most of them were the missing beds. "Professor Narukami, what are we going to sleep with, there's no beds." Weiss mentioned.

Seta slid open one of the sliding closets and brought out enough sheets for them. "That's no surprise, we sleep on mats. Traditionally, we sleep in these mats, we didn't exactly had the luxury to sleep in beds that were we lay our bodies a few feet higher." Seta explained as Weiss seemed displeased. "And if you put it in a huntsmen experience, can you really afford to sleep on something exquisite when you travel? Not everything you lay your body on would even be same."

"I see..." Weiss muttered.

"This is nothing new, you'd feel the experience." Blake rest assured.

"I supposed I'll have to explain this to the boys as well. Prepare to go to bed, ladies, we head to Yasogami High tomorrow!" Seta declared as she left for the boy's room.

* * *

Later on, as the rain continues to pour, the students were still up playing their usual board game they brought over from Vale while others were still cleaning themselves for bed. Soon enough Jaune and Ren came by for something.

"You guys still up?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, we've been sleeping on the trains, and now we were bored. Ha! Giant Nevermore!" Yang declared.

"Not again...!" Ruby whimpered.

"So what bring you guys here. Did you wanted to talk about something?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well... we haven't seen our friends here, right?" Jaune mentioned.

"That fact that Yukiko wasn't around seemed alarming. And we tried to contact Kanji and Teddie." Ren added.

"Now that I think about it... I have Yu's number..." Ruby recalled as she tries to contact him on her scroll. Unfortunately, his number went to voicemail. "Uh... that's not supposed to happen..."

"Maybe our scrolls are THAT outdated, its signals are incredibly weak?" Blake assumed.

"That's absurd! Our technology is... at least at par with this Kingdom's technology!" Weiss retorted.

"Then... where could they be?" Nora asked. No one said anything.

"There is another thing. Remember what the bus driver said? About the Midnight Channel." Jaune mentioned.

"A circling rumor last year. He said that's being popular again." Yang answered.

"This may be a small chance that it may have something do with our friends here. I think they're looking into that rumor." Jaune assumed.

"They said the Midnight channel is what spun them to become what they are now, I think it's something that helped me and Pyrrha with our Personas as well." Jaune added.

"You guys wanna check it out just in case? They did said the methods of the Midnight Channel is that it needs to be raining tonight." Yang pointed outside.

"... Wait, was the TV on or off... And what time was it suppose to broadcast...?" Ruby wondered.

"I believe the Midnight Channel must go on during midnight?" Pyrrha assumed.

"We staying up late? Count me in!" Nora eagerly agreed.

The Students decided to hang around the TV as they watched their clock on their scrolls. Eventually they started to hear a voice coming from the TV as is start to show static.

" _Rivals... They are..._ Friends, yet powerful foes!" a Male announcer declared as the screen displayed dynamic face shots on most of the Investigation Team. "The desperate fighting program amongst high school students! A new legend is about to start!" The screen then fade to another with the camera going black followed by panels with a "P-1" logo slid downwards with special effects brighten the screen as it switches viewpoints.

 ***The Arena**

"May the manliest of all men! COME ON DOWN!" Teddie, now with some new captain hat, cane and cape, declared as he revealed himself followed by him swinging his cape on the screen as it began to portray the friends in question along with their Personas.

"Nobody touches his precious Nanako, the Sister-Complex Kingpin of Steel, Yu Narukami!"

"It's only natural." Yu stated in his posture

"Wage slave in the boonies by day, hero by night! Captain Ressentiment, Yoskue Hanamura!"

"Everything that bores me, has got to go!" Yosuke exclaimed with his weapons raised.

"A spunky dragon with deadly legs! The Carnivore who's discarded Womanhood, Chie Satonaka!"

"You need to eat more meat!" Chie declared in a kung-fu pose.

"Please escort me to the ring, my prince! The Unconquerable Snow Black, Yukiko Amagi!"

"I'll finish you in one strike!" Yukiko declared with confidence with her weapon in hand.

"Blooming roses and bulging muscles, the blood curdling beefcake emperor, Kanji Tatsumi!"

"Deep in the realm of romance!" Kanji roared with an angry look as he looked like he was winding up for an attack.

"The body of a child, the brain of a genius, the two thousand I.Q. killjoy detective, Naoto Shirogane!"

"Is this an army of idiots?" Naoto scoffed with her ranged weapon pointed at the screen

"FIGHT AND SURVIVE TOWARDS THE ONE THROWN WAITING AT THE END. THE P-1 GRAND PRIX WHERE FIERCE FIGHTS WILL BE FOUGHT! THE BATTLE BEGINS TONIGHT!" The Announcer declared as the screen portrayed them once more along with Teddie in the new garments.

Soon after the TV screen faded back to static and eventually turned off, leaving the Beacon Students awe-struck.

"Huh?" "Wha-" "What the...?" They stuttered. The confusion stirred the atmosphere in the room.

"Sister-complex... Kingpin?" Ruby repeated

"Captain Ressentiment...?" Weiss wondered.

"Ahahahaha! Carnivore!?" Yang burst in laughter.

"Really... Unconquerable... Snow Black...?" Blake questioned with disbelief.

"Where did those titles come from?" Jaune wondered

"Seriously, there's no way they would be okay with those titles." Nora denied with a hint of laughter.

"They... certainly sound rather... offensive to them." Pyrrha thought.

"Unless someone else gave them those titles?" Ren assumes as the idea donned to the others as well.

"You think someone else is pulling the strings? I get that they should've told us about this show, but..." Jaune wondered.

"It's a possibility. We know our friends enough that they wouldn't agreed to this with such... titles. Otherwise, they wouldn't leave us out from this." Ren theorized.

"We still don't know where they're broadcasting this tournament or what ever it is. They could be anywhere." Weiss said otherwise.

"I don't know about that. Yu and the others mentioned the Midnight Channel, maybe it has to do something about the TV world- Ack!" Ruby mentioned as she decides to inspect the TV and was almost sucked in until Yang caught and pulled her out of the screen by her hood.

"Th-That was way too close, Ruby!" Yang gasped.

"Yeah, why don't we figure this out later? You guys know what Professor Port said about preparations and all, right?" Blake suggested.

"That sounds like a sounded plan." Pyrrha agreed.

Regardless, it would be too risky to venture into the TV world at this time, so they decided to sleep for the night.

* * *

8/11 **Amagi Inn** Early Morning

"Today we'll be heading to Yasogami High School. They'll be lecturing you of our Kingdom's culture." Seta stated with a sigh as the students gathered.

They exited the Inn as Ruby notices the professor depressed. "You okay, Professor?" she asked.

"I'm fine..." Seta responded with another sigh.

"... Is it about Yu?" Ruby asked again as Seta raised her head at Ruby.

Though, Seta turned away and shrugged. "Ah... guilty as charged. I haven't been able to contact him and Ryo-kun says that 'it's fine. they run away all the time.' and 'They'll show up eventually.' It's like it's been a recurring thing in this town..."

"Well... Have you heard about this P-1 Grand Prix tournament-thing going on? It looked like Yu and the others were participating." Ruby mentioned.

"What P-1 Grand Prix? No one has ever mentioned that before." Seta replied, looking confused.

"Well that's no surprise, the ad was broadcast last night. In the middle of midnight." Yang explained.

"But... what channel? I would've know since I had a TV on in my room." Seta recalled. Yet her student can only imagine her laying back in front of a TV in her casual clothing, drinking alcohol.

"Maybe we can discuss this later. Don't we have a school to go to?" Weiss reminded.

"Very well." Seta agreed as she led the students.

"A tournament? Where at?" Sun asked as he and Neptune approached nearby.

"We're not sure. It had our friends on the screen and it didn't told us where it's being broadcast." Jaune told them.

"It seems too suspicious for some tournament. Especially if it wasn't well informed." Ren agreed.

"Maybe the school knows?" Pyrrha guessed. "I think some students should know where they went."

"Yeah, let's try there." Jaune agreed.

* * *

8/11 **Yasogami High School** Morning

They arrived at the school and entered their auditorium. The speech was similar to the one at Shujin, so the Beacon Students toned it out as it went on. "... and we welcome you to our humble school." The Principle addressed.

"You will be attending a few courses this week, that will leave you guys the chance to have some free time." The School Council President stated as he guided them to a empty class on the 2nd floor. "The teacher, Kashiwagi-sensei, will be discussing the Kingdom's school system that defines our society."

"Say... other than that, are you guys familiar with Yu or Yosuke? Maybe even Chie?" Ruby asked.

"Yu, Yosuke and Chie? Oh, they're the ones that went on the Cultural Exchange Program at Beacon Academy?" The School President mentioned. "Yeah, they were the ones that were supposed to help being your tour guides in our town."

"They were?" Jaune asked as they took their seat.

"This feels so... rustic..." Pyrrha commented as they hear footsteps coming into the classroom.

"Gooooood mornin' I'm Noriko Kashiwagi, your new class teacher starting today." Said a lady with a wolf tail entered the room. She wore a slightly unbuttoned, pink collared shirt with a dark purple skirt. "My... my... aside from all the jailbaits here, I see some handsome little boys..." Kashiwagi commented as she licks her lips.

The students immediately noticed how terrible she. "Yeah, sorry. She was like this last year..." The school president added.

* * *

8/11 **Yasogami High School** Lunchtime

Luckily the lecture ended in Noon, so the students were free to roam on their own. "I can't believe that teacher...! What is with her!?" Nora questioned annoyingly as they hung out in an empty hall.

"I fathom how Yosuke and the others had to deal with her as their teacher last year..." Weiss sighed in disbelief. "So... what are we gonna do now?"

"Professor Narukami said that Yu and the others were supposed to guide us on a tour of their town, but..."

"Um... You know...?" The School Council President approached the group as he spoke his piece. "They did help with the planning for your arrival up until yesterday."

"Really? What happened?" Jaune wondered.

"Not till recently, some students were talking about the 'Midnight Channel' rumor and it had them fighting on it... or that's what they said. I couldn't check it out myself with all the work in the Student Council." The Student Council President said.

"Seriously? The Midnight Channel definitely had them on last night with these gaudy titles of there's. Wouldn't they told you guys anything about this?" Jaune wondered.

"I don't think so, they never told me. Then again, when they over heard some other students about it they seem serious like that was more important than your arrival here." The Student Council President added.

"Hold on... you said that you were with them when the rumor rung up, correct?" Weiss questioned as he nodded yes. "... Then how could they even be in that P-1 Grand Prix commercial if they were here the whole time...?"

"P-1 Grand Prix? Hmm... At first the students talking about it were as surprise to see that they weren't informed about it either." The President mentioned.

"You think they're investigating this tournament?" Ren guessed.

"Well that's no good. They were supposed to help prep since yesterday, too..." The President sighed.

"... Why not let us help you look for them? As Huntsmen, rescuing people is a thing were capable of." Ruby assured.

"Oh...! Um...we appreciate it. Well since you guys have the rest of the day off... do I have to file some sort of request?" The President asked.

"Not at all. It just so happens that they're are friends as well. We'd be happy to help." Ruby reassured.

"I can't thank you enough. Here, this is the map for our town, try's Tatsumi-sans's residence over here. His family runs a textile shop around there." The President informed.

"His family actually run a shop?" Weiss baffled with realization.

"You didn't believe him?" Blake scoffed.

* * *

8/11 **Inaba, Tatsumi Textiles** Daytime

They entered and passed through the town's Central Shopping District and arrived at Kanji's Family shop. As they entered, they find so many cloths with unique designs laid out.

"These designs... they look... nostalgic..." Ren muttered as he took a closer look.

"Do you recognize these designs, Ren?" Pyrrha asked.

"In comparison, these sort of resemble the similar style back in my home Kingdom. Only that these designs have more old and traditional textures than my own." Ren told her.

As they browse the wares, and Elderly woman in a green kimono appeared from the back room. "Ah, Hello! Welcome to Tatsumi Textiles. How will I be of assistance?" She asked with a bow.

"Hi there! We were looking for Kanji but he hasn't shown up recently." Ruby told her. They explain the reason why they came here. It turns out, to the Student's surprise, the the Elderly woman is Kanji's mother.

"Oh dear, It could be because of so many Rise's fans were showing up recently. Everyone that was showing up here were berating my son because of her." Kanji's mother assumed.

"Rise did something to him?" Blake asked.

"I'm not sure. They were upset when they heard the news about Kanji being her team leader. I almost died from laughter upon hearing that." Kanji's mother laughed.

"I guess Rise's popularity is on the line." Weiss muttered.

"Are you all acquainted with my boy? I hope he hasn't cause you any problems." Kanji hoped.

"Not at all. In fact, he's actually a good friend of ours. He's helping me during my time at Beacon and saving my hide more than once, I consider him and the others as friends." Jaune assured.

"Kanji's friends? I've been hearing a lot about you all from him." Kanji's mom smiled. "He's always had trouble getting along with people. He didn't have many more friends than before. And now he's finally making friends outside the Kingdom, too." She giggled.

"His... personality is pretty over bearing. But I never expected him to have the talent in sewing either." Weiss complimented.

"Anyways, did he mention anything else before his disappearance? We were told that they weren't informed about a tournament in their name either." Jaune asked.

"Nothing to note, I'm afraid. I assumed once he finished a draft of some outfits in mind, he would spend time with his Senpai." Kanji's mom assumed.

"Uh... well, where ever he is, will make sure to tell him straight." Yang assured.

"Oh, one more thing!" Kanji's mother beckoned before they left her store. "Thank you for befriending my son. If you ever happen to be in town, stop by if you can."

"We're here for a week so we might." Ren waved back as the group exited the shop.

"She seems nice." Pyrrha commented.

"A lot more polite than Kanji." Weiss added.

"Hmm... I guess Kanji's mom wouldn't know about the Tournament." Jaune sighed.

"Yeah, we probably look all over this town and we'd never find them." Yang guessed.

Thinking about it, they don't know much about the Investigation Team. They only met Yukiko's and Kanji's residence, and Naoto and Rise are out of town last they checked.

"So... where to now?" Nora asked as Jaune scanned the map of Inaba once more.

"... Well... there's a Junes nearby. I think they said they usually hang out at one of those districts." Jaune mentioned.

"I think Yosuke said that his dad runs a Junes Department Store around here..." Weiss added.

"Okay then... To Junes!" Ruby declared.

* * *

8/11 **Junes Department Store** Daytime

They were surprised to see the Department Store that was a district back in Vale. It still had the similarities though, only a little smaller.

The group split up for information and regrouped at the food court. "No dice?" Yang guessed as everyone arrived.

"It's so weird. one day they were preparing for our arrival, and the next day, they disappeared without a trace." Jaune nodded.

"Then it seems the only theory open to us is that they went into the TV world." Pyrrha suggested as they all agreed.

"Hey guys, guess who I found!" Ruby waved as she was the last person to return to the group. They noticed that Nanako and her dad, Dojima followed.

"You guys came!" Nanako cheered.

"Heya, Nanako! How've you been?" Yang waved back.

"I'm doing fine! What brings you guys to Inaba?" Nanako asked with delight to see them.

"You could say that we're on a vacation trip." Nora stated.

"We're attending a trip to various schools in your Kingdom. Yasogami High is our current one." Weiss addressed.

"Oh wow! Say do you guys wanna have dinner with us? Big bro and the others are invited too!" Nanako asked.

"Oh sure! Although..." Ruby recalls that the Dojimas are relatives of Yu. "Now that I think of it, have seen your big bro? He and the others were supposed to be our tour guides today."

"You guys have been looking for them? We haven't seen him since yesterday." Dojima mentioned. "It doesn't seem like him not to tell us anything."

"I'm really worried for Big bro..." Nanako frowned as her cat ears drooped.

"Uh... Maaaaybe he has some sort of surprise? It could be that he having trouble trying to do something for you... I think..." Ruby ad-libbed.

Nanako: "You think so?"

"We have a map of the area so I don't think we'll be lost. We'll let them know that you guys are expecting them." Jaune assured.

"Okay!" Nanako nodded as she looked to Dojima. "Hey dad! I'm gonna get Teddie's favorite. Is that okay?"

"Go ahead." Dojima assured as Nanako left to grab groceries. "To be frank, I hope their disappearance doesn't resort to a group missing people case... Last thing I need is Seta berating me." The Detective sighed.

"The Professor seems nice." Yang joked sarcastically.

"Right... Anyways, I'll see you guys later." Dojima nodded as he followed Nanako.

"So that's the plan? We're going into the TV world?" Ruby asked everyone as the nodded in response.

"You think they have a TV in here?" Yang wondered as they searched for the electronics section.

Once they secured a TV, they made sure to check to see if people are no longer nearby. Unfortunately, there were a lot of customers within the section.

"They say that it's the 'End of Summer' special discount..." Blake mentioned, hearing across the shopping center.

"If they keep the deals up, they'll like end up putting other stores out of business." Nora chuckled, laughing at the thought.

As they waited around the TV until the other customers were out of their sight, they recalled their time with the Investigation Team. "You know, thinking back, they did look like they didn't know how to fight at first. I thought they were as bad as me." Jaune reminisced.

"It is all thanks to the case they dealt with last year." Ren agreed.

Ruby gently tapped the TV screen as it rippled in response. The young huntress looked back to see if anyone was still present.

Blake then notified the group with the last of the customers left the area. "Okay, were in the clear. Now or never." She stated as she and everyone wore their glasses.

"Alright. Let's do this!" Ruby declared as she went into the TV screen, followed by everyone else.

They entered through the portal as usual as they pass the black and white ripples, but then suddenly a sudden change occurred as the black and white ripples change like they went paralleled to their normal design.

"Wha- did something happened!?" Jaune gasped.

"This looks different than usual!" Blake realized as well.

"Oh crap! What the hell can we do!?" Yang questioned.

"Whatever's going on, brace for impact!" Ruby exclaimed as they screamed as the sparkling lights flew past them as their sight went white then to black.

* * *

Within the darkness in a young girl's sight, she hears a women's voice along with a male's voice as well.

No Date **Velvet Room** Evening

 ***Aria of the Soul**

Ruby manages to open her eyes as she sees that she is riding inside a limousine designed in a fashionable blue interior with wine compartment and a small table in front of the center. "This is..." Ruby muttered, this place feels familiar, yet she doesn't know what this place is. She soon realizes that Margaret and Theodore were present in front of her. "Uh... Oh! Theo and Margaret?" She calls out to them.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room." Theo greeted his guest.

"What happened? I thought I was entering the TV and here I am..." Ruby wondered. "And... a limo? Are we going somewhere?"

"This room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Thus it takes the appearance of the original guest's mind. I believe you are acquainted with him." Theo addressed her answer.

"Original guest? Oh...!" Ruby realized. The Velvet Room were the people who helped Yu and his Investigation last year. That would mean the the Limo was his version of the Velvet Room.

"This room is tied to your fate... Nothing that occurs here is meaningless." Margaret also answered. Though your journey is your own, you are tied to another who knows well enough. It shows that you will once again be face with a question."

"A question? So there IS more than what's been going on?" Ruby assumes. There is no way Yu and the others would ever abruptly disappear.

"From here on out, what befalls you and your comrades will upset your status quo. It is true that my sister's guest has opened the door once before. But all things change; nothing ever remains the same..." Theo stated. What you gain before will change over time indeed. Will you and your friends muster the will to face them?" He asked the young huntress.

"Face... who?" Ruby asked as her eyes began to grow heavy.

"Show us how you will proceed down the path that awaits beyond the door he has opened..." Margaret declared as her sight went dark.

* * *

 ***Break Out Of...**

As the drums beat, the glass cracks as Ruby appears and he teammates with Team JNPR appears on each shards followed by Minato and the members of the SEES; and then Yu and the Investigation Team as the shattered glass reflects the light as the three leaders appear on screen with the current antagonist with red hair appeared in the background of glass shards as the leaders swung their weapons at the glass forward.

Afterwards, the screen shows Yosuke parrying Weiss several times as they entered a deadlock. As they backed away from each other, a kick flung in front of the screen as Chie swung several kicks at Yang, readying a powerful counter as they pushed each other back in a explosion of fire and ice.

One thing that I'm sure of is that  
You gotta fit in to survive this madness oh boy  
(You don't even know who you're messing with) _  
_(Sinner from birth spelled in curse hated by thousands) _  
_Oh my boy  
(My hands filled with dirt, skirts can go back home jerks)

Out of the explosion show the title of the arc show the support beams with the screen scrolling down to reveal a fighting ring filled with our heroes weapons.

Like all the sounds count in any good song,  
Supposed drums Weak? Then the band plays sour tone  
(All round player no sub needed)  
(Y'all little brats please stay seated)  
(Real life kittens can't believe it)  
(Do or die I fight back and kill it)

Jaune swung his sword at Kanji as he retaliates with his weapon, slamming down on Jaune as he jumps away followed by Yukiko parries Blake's Gambol Shroud with her weapon as flames and sakura petals flew around those two.

Way you fake yourself, get played on  
And I've been there done that same predicament  
But it's time you give up maverick  
(huh?)

Pyrrha and Ren fire from their weapons followed by Nora firing her grenades as Naoto dodges the gunfire and fires back with Teddie being blown away from the grenade blast.

Break out of the dome  
It's time to take a step up, no more cruising alone  
(Trust is no more than a word,  
Yo act before you slur those words)  
For better good  
(I move alone man free as a bird,  
Overcame every time the curse)

Team MAYJ take a quick stage light along with Team MASK as they clashed with the Shadows in the arena with Rise and Fuuka with their Persona scanning the whole area.

Break out of the shell  
Deep down inside you there lies love in your heart  
(Only got love for myself stop your lies)  
[both] No need to fear it's time you burn that dread

Ruby and Labrys reaches a deadlock as Labrys knocks back Ruby, frowning in desperation as Labrys's eyes glow yellow as she glare with a wicked smile back at the young huntress as Ruby charges forth propelling herself at Shadow Labrys with a strong swing as the screen cuts to flames

As the instruments play as the flames disperse to reveal the fighters Minato and Junpei casually posing on screen with Mitsuru behind them, then Yukari holding her bow up with Aigis checking her robotic arm and Akihiko pulling down his gloves. Followed by Ken holding his weapon on his back with Koromaru and Shinji looking elsewhere, and then with Elizabeth and Margaret as well in the ring as the music ends in a high note with viewing everyone in a full circle shoot overhead with the P-1 Grand Prix symbol in the center of the ring.

* * *

 **A/N: I know that this is short, and the next chapters may be as short as well. That's because I'm trying to fit a couple of 1 on 1 fights in each.**

 **I may have add the P3 cast in the opening, but they will have a minor role in this one since this is the P4 setting.**

 **As for the names, hmm... I'm not too sure about those names, they have to be slightly more insulting if not truthful... Yang's "anger management" is one example.**

 **I'm thinking Pyrrha's should be "Trophy-something" relating to what she said in vol. 2.**

 **Ren's case relates to what we saw in Vol. 4, of losing his hometown. "solemn vengeance incarnate. Heck everyone saw the whole thing in the recent chapters, before coming to Inaba.**

 **... Oh right, I still need to get Nora her Persona...**

 **In the original P4 Arena, the mastermind uses a illusion to make people say things that they don't mean.**

 **When the Beacon students goes against the Investigation Team, they'll likely throw insults which will conflict the student huntsmen, but knowing them, they'll likely see through it.  
**

 **Anyways, here's a Omake.**

* * *

The Huntsman and Teddiemon

In a darkest alley, Torchwick and his goons were attempting a mugging against Velvet. "Mweh heh heh... Where do you think you're going, bunny?" The crook questioned with a menacing laughter.

"Please! I-I don't want any trouble!" Velvet pleaded as Torchwick continued to laugh nefariously while Emerald, Mercury, Neo, and for reason, Adachi as well, were watching Torchwick do his thing.

But then suddenly, a voice rung out as a light with a cute bunny-like shadow appeared. "You've threatened you last bunny villain!" The voice declared.

"What?! Who said that!?" Torchwick gasped as... Jaune descend by rope as it revealed him wearing a red hood, a pair of gauntlets and wield a hammer as well.

"It is I, the crime fighter known as, the HuntsMan! And his heroic sidekick, WonderZwei" Jaune declared as Zwei barked in response.

"Seriously?" Adachi questioned.

"How mysterious." Neo posted.

Mercury: "What? 'HuntsMan'? Are you just a huntsman? Because we already those and they're basically superheroe-"

"HAMMER OF SILENCE!" Jaune exclaimed as he punts him away offscreen.

"Egads! We're clearly no match for this mysterious new hero and his plucky sidekick!" Torchwick exclaimed with fright.

"Say what?" Adachi asked in disappointment.

"What are you talking about? It's just that goofy Jaune guy who's falling over-" Emerald explained then heard a fuse burning.

"Teddie Rocket!" Another voice blurted as a rocket literally slammed into Emerald from behind while sending her into a explosive demise offscreen.

"Never fear citizen! For I, Teddiemon and his trusty sidekicks, Monamon and Koromon, have come to save the day!" Teddie declared as jumped down from the rooftop. Koromaru and Morgana appeared as they approached by Teddie's side. Teddie was the only one who wore a costume, but with a bandana covering his eyes. The dog was waiting patiently as the cat yawned.

"I can't believe we're doing this... It's so not my style..." Morgana meowed as Koromaru bark in response.

"Grrr... you win this night, heroes! But take heed, I'll be back with a better plan!" Torchwick declared as he retreated first.

"We're seriously doing this?" Adachi questioned with disbelief.

"Cute Mascots." Neo posted as they both followed Torchwick away.

"Thank you foir saving me, Teddiemon! But weren't you scared?" Velvet asked.

"No at all, fair citizen!" Teddie boasted. "I-"

However Jaune interrupts him with his laughter. "The HuntsMan and WonderZwei fear no, simple civilian!" He stated.

"Hey! She was talking to me, HuntsMan! Stand down!" Teddie demanded.

"Me? You guys are the ones who butt in!" Jaune retorted.

"Grr... At least we didn't steal our friend's stuff to play dress-up!" Teddie accused, pointing at the equipment Jaune had on him.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Jaune staggered his question.

Morgana noticed as well. "Now that I think of it, don't those equipment belongs to-"

"HEY! WHO TOOK MY CAPE!?" Ruby questioned loudly, enough to reach the ears of everyone present.

"I *know* someone didn't touch my gauntlets!" Yang warned with muffled sound of fingers cracking. Jaune tensed up in response.

"Where. Is. My. HAMMER!?" Nora roared.

"... Wow. You're screwed, Jaune." Morgana stated in a pained expression. Even Koromaru whined in pity.

"Well I definitely fear them. Bye!" Jaune stuttered as he bolted away.

"... I do not wanna be here when they find out." Teddie muttered to his sidekicks as they agreed. "Stay out of dark alleyways!" He said as they left as well, leaving Velvet speechless.

* * *

 ***The Arena - Shoji Meguro**

 ***Break Out Of... - Shoji Meguro**

One hint for sure, the Huntsmen will be sticking together, not split apart like the Investigation Team.


	14. Fury of Fisticuffs

Persona Series x RWBY crossover

I do not own either one, They are Respectively owned by ATLUS and Roosterteeth

Including any additional add-ons from various games, anime, etc.

* * *

 **Fury of Fisticuffs**

 ***Break Out Of...**

8/11 **Yasogami High?** Daytime

"...by...! Ruby!" The voice echoed as Weiss kept shouting at her dazed Team leader. "Walk up, you dolt!"

"Ugh... uh... Weiss?" Ruby muttered as she began to bear her surrounding. "Whoa, what happened?" Ruby asked as she stood back up.

"Glad to see that you're back up." Weiss sighed with sarcasm. "The others are just ahead, come on."

As Ruby follows Weiss, she looks around to realize the area where they're in is the front of the school gate of Yasogami High. "... Um, Why are we at the school? Didn't we went into the TV world at Junes?" Ruby questioned.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed, upon hearing her sister up and about. "Yeah, it's weird. When we came to, we realized that we were in front of the school gate."

And so Team RWBY and Team JNPR looked around to see that the crowd of silhouettes in front of the school gate, which was also heavily decorated with a P-1 Grand Prix logo. There were even cameras positioned and stacks of TV screening all over.

"What's going on? Is there an event going on?" Nora wondered.

"This is the TV world... it's no surprise that there are cameras and TVs all over." Pyrrha assumed.

"Whatever the case, we should stay cautious. Shadows can likely run amok if we stay around." Ren suggested, recalling their encounters with Shadows.

"Agreed. Let's find our friends and get out of here. Maybe we can find out who's behind there..." Jaune stated while he steps forward as the group discovers Kanji walking towards them. "Kanji!?"

"Huh? Whoa, Jaune! Guys!" Kanji exclaimed as he groups up with them. "What's with the glasses?"

"Kanji! Where were- *smack* Gah! Oo-owww!" Ruby along with Nora slammed into an invisible wall so suddenly and staggered around through the pain.

"Ruby!? Nora!" Jaune turned around as he tries to go to their aid, but he and Kanji were blocked off on the other side of the invisible wall. "What the... when did this wall get here?" He questioned as he and the others inspect the invisible wall.

As they tried to figure what was going on, a big screen TV flickered on with a familiar voice ringing out. _"Hellooooooo, boys and girls of Yasogami High! The P-1 Grand Prix is about to begin!"_ Rise announced.

"That voice... That's Rise!" Weiss realized as the screen showed her face with a headset on.

 _"Our first round is about to begin... wait a moment, who are these newcomers? I haven't seen them before."_ Rise asked as the crowd murmured.

"First round? So this IS the tournament that was rumored on that commercial..." Yang assured about the rumor they heard.

"Rise, It's me, Jaune Arc! You were with us at Beacon for the last few months remember?" Jaune introduced himself once more.

 _"Jaune... Arc... Sound like a new challenger to me!"_ Another voice rung out as the TV screen went static to reveal Teddie wearing the same captain hat they saw back in the commercial last night.

"T-Teddie? Wait, don't tell me you're also in on this tournament thing too?" Ruby suggested otherwise.

 _"Huh? I don't even know who you guys are! But if you made it here, that mean you can participate as well! And please! I am General Teddie, you all are to address me as such!"_ General Teddie decreed.

"The hell do you mean? That's Ruby-chan, Ted!" Kanji retorted. He then pointed out to Teddie their names and who they are.

 _"Ah... so that's it."_ General Teddie summed up as he took a good look at them on screen. _"Very well then. Allow me to commence the first round! We'll delayed this tournament of manliness no longer!"_ He declared as the sound of static grew around them.

"Huh? What now?" Yang wondered as the voice rung out.

 _"Entering now; Grimm fodder with a gigantic heart! The Rookie Wannabe-hero; Jaune Arc versus the Bloodcurdling Beefcake Emperor; Kanji Tatsumi!"_ The Announcer announced.

A moment of silence and with mouths open. They turned to Jaune who was also shocked.

"R-Rookie...!? Oh come on, man, you know I-I'm doing my best!" Jaune cried.

 _"Heh heh heh, I don't know what you're going on about, but this is some fresh material! Now what say you, Beefcake Emperor?"_ General Teddie addressed as everyone stared at Kanji.

"Uh... Kanji?" Jaune asked as he gazed upon his eyes back at him.

"Ya know, I been thinkin'. They way you talk is so lame." Kanji sighed.

"I... Huh?" Jaune muttered.

"He just hurled that insult, didn't he...?" Weiss wondered. They, too, can hear what Kanji's saying.

"And Jaune's taking the brunt of it..." Ren added.

"It's like, way too whiny and goody-goody. It makes ya sound like a girl, ya dig?" Kanji commented his offense.

"Well yeah, I have seven sisters. It's there fault for giving me this habit." Jaune retorted.

"Yeah, see what I mean? Buncha bitches that're gettin' in our way of our manhood. Good riddance you left!" Kanji scoffed with scorn.

"... Wh-What did you say?" Jaune questioned with surprise and hint of anger.

Everyone else outside the invisible wall heard him as well. "Wha... Kanji, why would you say that!?" Ruby questioned.

"'Cause I can! These muscles are all what men rely on. And being polite and all? "The hell's up with the Mr. Manners act?" Kanji continued to berate Jaune.

"It's called being considerate!" Jaune exclaimed, still wounded from the insult to his sisters.

"Or maybe it's that ya don't give a crap about gettin' strong!" Kanji retorted, being high and mighty. "A Shitless pansy like you's better off a princess that need savin'!"

"What!?" Jaune exclaimed with disbelief. Of all the people that would look down on Jaune, Kanji, who's been helping him at beacon, would insult him and his sisters. He grits his teeth and draws Crocea Mors. "If you're just throwing insults just to get me worked up, it's really working." He exasperated.

"Jaune, are you sure?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't like this either, but it's the least I can do it for him." Jaune stated as he readied himself against Kanji.

"Ha, that's more like it! Lemme give you a little lesson in manliness!" Kanji declared as he pulled out Takeji Zaiten at the ready. "I hope you're ready for the pain I'm bringin'! He roared.

"Raaaaagh!" Jaune charged at Kanji in response, they slammed their guards against each other.

 ***A Pure-Hearted Beast**

They both clashed but Jaune was easily brushed back. "Ha! What a goddanm pushover! I'll beat you to a pancake!" Kanji roared as he slammed his weapon on Jaune's shield and Jaune forces him back with his strength and retaliates with controlled swings.

"This isn't funny!" Jaune exclaimed, taking a defensive stance. "Come on, man! Why are you being a bully? You don't even know my sisters!"

"Why shouldn't I? I bet Sapphire-chan is way better a woman than you!" Kanji exclaimed with a wicked smile. He lunges at Jaune and the Arc rolls out of the attack.

"That's NOT cool, Kanji! How do you even know my sister...!" Jaune questioned furiously, but then realizes something off. _"Wait, I never even mentioned my sisters before, not even their names..."_ He pondered as he stood up.

"Who's Sapphire?" Ruby wondered. No one knows who she is.

Kanji parries Jaune's sword and grabs him by the hoodie and pulls him away and kicks him down to the ground, followed by a **Cruel Attack** , slamming him on the back as Jaune quickly toss his shield to cover his back, preventing more damage taken.

"Have to act...!" Jaune muttered as he continues to distance himself away from Kanji.

"Betcha' can't take an Ass Whoopin', Tatsumi-style!" Kanji exclaimed all the while striking Jaune by throwing a his weapon at him, then thrusting his foot and slamming it into Jaune's face, and swung a painfully left hook onto the already dazed Jaune.

"Jaune!" The group outside shouted with worry.

 _"Wow, this is clearly a one-sided match! Jauney is SO dead meat!"_ General Teddie exclaimed with excitement, but frowned at the quick defeat. _"But it seems that we're gonna have to call this match-"_

"Odin!" Jaune exclaimed as got back up. He is even surprised that he can summon his Persona. "Aw man, I forgot we can do that."

"Heh, finally bringin' out the big guns, yeah!? BRING IT ON!" Kanji scoffed with a strong fighting intent. He even summoned Take-Mikazuchi as the Persona stampede toward Odin.

"Oh boy... RAAAAAAGH!" Jaune roared as he and his Persona charged their opponent.

The Persona User and their Persona fought as one, Jaune and Kanji entered another deadlock, but with Jaune breaking through Kanji's strength, even Odin yanks Take-Mikazuchi's Lightning Bolt club out of its' hands as Jaune punches Kanji in the face with his shield in his hand. "A shield can work as weapon, remember that!?" Jaune questioned as Odin bashed its fist at the opposing Persona.

As Jaune goes for another swing with his sword, Kanji catches the attack by grabbing the Arc's sword arm. "Nothin' but a load of shit!" Kanji swore as he jabs Jaune in the gut, with Jaune leaking drool out of his mouth from the pain. Kanji then grabs Jaune at the collar and butts his head hard on Jaune and then uses his weapon and swings away the staggered Jaune as focuses on blocking the attack, skidding away and tumbled to the ground. "Ha! All bark and no bite, Princess!"

"Jaune! Are you gonna be okay?" Pyrrha asked with worry.

Jaune stood back up into his fighting stance once more. "If I'm a princess, then I'm a princess who can fight!" Jaune declared, psyching himself up.

 _"What's this? Jaune's third wind? How IS he still standing?"_ Rise wondered boastfully.

Jaune rushes back at Kanji, but he throws his shield at him, distracting him from what Jane was actually doing. He slashed at him with a couple of strong swings and have Odin casting **Kouha** , a beam of light cast below Kanji and Jaune managed to deliver several swings at the distracted Kanji, but he manages to grab onto Jaune again and throws him away as he tosses sword away elsewhere as Take-Mikazuchi slams its giant fist at Odin, cracking its armor.

"Now or never..." Jaune muttered as as he stand back up to see Kanji cracking his knuckles.

"Moment of truth, ya' pansy!" Kanji stated as he readies a curled up fist.

"Moment of truth..." Jaune agreed as he curled his own fist. Between them, the best way to end a fight is to deliver a final strike and see who'll still stand.

"Finish him, Jaune!" Nora shouted. His friends where cheering him on.

"Yeah! One last strike!" Yang rooted.

A moment soon, both Kanji and Jaune sprinted with the last of their strength towards each other.

Kanji: "BRING IT ON!"

Jaune: "KANJI!"

They both screamed as they charged at each other. In slow motion, their strikes literally connected on each other, directly into their eye. The impact was so strong it knocked them back as the audience watches them spin around and fall.

"Jaune!" His friends exclaimed as Jaune fell on his back.

"... Ow... aw man, that hurts...!" Jaune groans as he rolls around. Soon as the amount of pain subsides he sees Kanji knocked out on the ground.

"Jaune!" His friends exclaimed as the invisible wall disappears, allowing them to aid Jaune.

"Are you alright?" Ren asked as Jaune presses his face hard.

"Nnnngh... He hits like a truck..." Jaune cried as he tries to press the pain.

"Ugh... dammit! Didn't think you'd hit hard..." Kanji grunts as he also sits up he then realizes the Beacon Students were glaring back at him. "Wh-What?"

"Ngh... Kanji, what was that about?" Jaune questioned as he stood up. "You know I'm not as weak than before, so why look down on me? And why insult my sisters for? How do you even know Sapphire?" He questioned.

"What!? I don't know jack-shit about your sisters!" Kanji retorted. "I mean, Teddie keeps bickering about you having seven sisters, but that's all I know!"

"Whoa, seven...?" Ruby realized.

"Sapphire's one of them." Jaune answered.

"What's more, you guys were the one taunting me! Talkin' shit about me, dissin' my mom, calling me gay, I like women, dammit! And what the hell's a beefcake? Is it some kind of meatloaf or something?" Kanji exclaimed.

"What? Are you really...?" Yang uttered.

"NO, Dammit!" Kanji roared in frustration. "Shit... the hell's goin' on!"

Confusion loomed in the atmosphere. It seemed like Kanji doesn't know what's going on. "Wait, Kanji, did you guys know that you guys were missing since yesterday? We were wondering where you guys were when we arrived." Ruby asked, trying to calm him down.

"Yeah, I just realized it when I saw you guys. I mean yesterday? I was sleepin' like a log when you guys showed up." Kanji explained.

"Sleeping? You were sleeping around here?" Nora asked with a baffled look.

"No, I thought I was sleeping back my house. I was makin' some new designs for my senpai and dozed off at the table. Next thing I knew, I woke up with you guys yappin', followed by a one-sided ass-whoopin'." Kanji told them. "So what gives!"

"We're not sure ourselves! We heard you throwing insults at me while you say we were insulting you?" Jaune asked.

"We don't have any proof that we meant what we said. So can we calm down? All we know right now is that neither of us heard what the other person really said." Ruby pleaded as she stood between Jaune and Kanji.

"Alright." "Okay, Okay" Both Jaune and Kanji agreed to take deep breaths.

Soon enough, one of the large TV screens started to emit static and showed General Teddie once more. _"All right, Already, enough with the chatter! We got more contestants for you to engage!"_ The General declared.

"Teddie, stop fooling around and tell us what's going on here!" Weiss demanded.

 _"Hmhmhmhmhm... You'll have to come find out Weissy-chan!"_ General Teddie giggled. _"C'mon, head over to the school building. Your next opponent awaits!"_

"Next opponent...?" Blake wondered. "You're saying everyone else is participating?"

"I guess that covers our missing friend's location." Pyrrha added.

 _"Come now, my Huntsmen participants, aren't guys all constant fighting? This tournament is meant for you guys!"_ General Teddie stated.

"Meant for us?" Ruby wondered.

"Quit screwing around Ted!? This ain't funny if you think it's fine to watch us suffer like that!" Kanji retorted.

 _"Says the pot calling the kettle black. You claim yourself a man, but you lost the first round!"_ General Teddie stated in a mocking tone, thus, leaving a few students infuriated.

"Well, I guess we all know who's gonna get a beating when we find him, right?" Yang guessed as she cracked her knuckles.

"Damn straight! Where the hell are you, Ted!?" Kanji roared as he rushes towards the school building first until he slammed into an invisible wall as he fell.

"Kanji! Geez...!" Jaune exclaimed as they rush to his aid. "Another invisible wall?" He muttered.

 _"Oh no! Apparently Kanji lost, so he can't even move from that spot. No one gets to leave until the tournament's over. Only the group who fights to the bitter end and is crowned the victors can earn freedom! Good luck!"_ General Teddie explained as the TV screen faded to black.

While the group was staring at the blank monitor, they turned to see Jaune and Kanji inspecting the invisible wall. Jaune's arm is still going through while Kanji has been hitting the wall. Even the rest of the Beacon Students are able to pass through with Kanji singled out.

"Ah... shit... I can't move from here..." Kanji complained as he sat down as he still recovered.

"I guess we'll have go and finish the tournament if we want to leave." Ruby suggested otherwise.

"And the participants on that commercial, I think we have to face 6 more of them?"

"Lets see, including Kanji, there's Yu, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, and... Naoto?" Ren summed up.

"Wait, Naoto's here? Kanji over heard them.

"Yeah, she was on the commercial last night, that midnight channel? She was that '2000 IQ Killjoy Detective'. Didn't you watch it?" Ruby asked.

"No, I didn't. I think I slept through that part..." Kanji denied. "Now that I think of it, Naoto was still workin' in the capital, with the Phantom Thieves case."

"She's still in Tokyo? Then again, we haven't been in contact with her for some time." Blake mentioned.

"And Rise? I get that Teddie pulled prank like this, but... I'm guessing you haven't contacted her recently?" Weiss recalled.

"Me and Ted texted them about your guy's Inaba tour, they were gonna talk to their bosses about it and we didn't get a response yet." Kanji explained. "One thing I'm certain, that Ted and Rise are probably fakes, they ain't twisted like that. You guys of all people ought 'ta know." The Beacon Students know them well enough for certain. The Teddie and Rise we saw just now were intent on watching us fight just now and urge Jaune and Kanji to fight hard. "Well if you guys can end the tournament you guys better watch out, my senpai and the others ain't slouches in a fight." He stated with confidence.

"We'll make sure to be careful. If we're lucky, I think they'll be confused as we all are." Ruby assured.

"Guess we'll have to found out how strong they are." Yang boasted as she went into the school first.

"Hey, Jaune!" Kanji beckoned his attention. "That fight doesn't count. If we're gonna go all out, let's do it in that tournament."

"I'll make sure to get stronger!" Jaune assured as they left Kanji. "Oh, also! This is the TV world, put your glasses on!"

Kanji equipped his shades and realized where he was. "Holy shit, the TV world!?"

* * *

Inside the school's hallway was not so different than what they saw outside. Littered with sports equipment, cameras positioned everywhere, and P-1 posters plastered everywhere. Even the light shining in from the window looks unpleasant.

"This place looks a lot more... stylish than the school in reality." Yang observed.

As they looked all over, someone's voice echoed gradually towards them. "Honestly, where did they get this huge set!? Some people are always up to shenanigans..." A Yasogami Student girl appeared who had blueish gray hair and piercing red eyes. She spots the Beacon Students in the middle of the hallway. "Hey you! What are you guys doin' here?" She questioned with an unusual accent.

"Huh? Oh, us?" Ruby staggered with surprise. "Wait, you're talking to us?"

"You guys are the only ones who're dressed weird." The schoolgirl pointed at them, wearing their Beacon Uniform.

"Oh! um... I'm Ruby Rose, we were just visiting friends who live around these parts." Ruby addressed as well as everyone introducing themselves to her even mentioning the P-1 Grand Prix event.

"Is that so... and I assume that you guys are participating in this event? Well, listen up, you guys better cut this crap out, quick! The student council didn't approved of this!" She stated angrily.

"The student council? You're with them?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"C'mon... then again, I guess foreigners wouldn't know who the student council president is..." She introduced herself as the Student President.

"You're... the student council president?" Ren asked in realization.

"Look, we would like nothing more than to find our friends and enjoy something better than this tournament, but we can't seem to bail out from this. We're kinda stuck until that General Teddie says so." Ruby explained.

"Yeah, I heard. The way he's been broadcasting himself, that dumb palooka must be in the Announcement room!" The Student President suggested as she went up the stairs.

"Hey wait a sec-" Yang tried to give chase but hit an invisible before she even touched the stairs. "You gotta be kidding me, a wall here!?" Yang complained.

"Ow! There's one here too!" Ruby staggered she felt that she hit something, as the rest of the group soon realized they were now cut from Yang, due to the invisible wall. "Not again!" Ruby groaned.

"Ruby?" Yang exclaimed and soon realized the situation. "Oh, wait, so I'm next to fight?" She readied Ember Celica as a TV screen started to act up with General Teddie showing.

 _"That's right! I'm glad to see that you're fire up!"_ General Teddie cheered. _"And now to receive your title and your opponent."_

Yang: "My what?"

"Oh no..." Ruby muttered in horror. Considering she know her older sister, she bets that it's not gonna be something to be proud with.

 _"Entering now; Rage-incarnate at its finest! The Tomboy of Burning Puns and Poor Anger Management; Yang Xiao Long verses the Carnivore who's discarded Womanhood; Chie Satanoka!_

"I knew it..." Ruby sighed in defeat as the group slowly turns their heads to Yang who was shocked in response.

"Tomboy... Poor anger MANAGEMENT!?" Yang roared with her eyes turning red, gritting her teeth real badly.

Suddenly, smoke shoots out in a corner and Chie steps out of it. "Hwataaaaa! You're already fileted!" Chie declared, striking one of her kung-fu poses.

"Chie?!" Yang realized as she discards the thought of her title.

"Huh? Oh hi, Yang-chan, still working on your training?" Chie asked.

"Uh... yeah, I'm doing fine. But more importantly, where were you guys?" Yang asked but Chie said nothing and stares back at her.

"Um... why is she looking at you funny?" Ruby notices.

They notice a slight drool at the side of Chie's lips and she wipes it off while a suspicious smile. "Hey, Yang-chan, Can I eat you?"

"Um, what?" Yang wondered, but soon pieced together something. A face of a predator, sounding perverted... "Wait, what!?

"Would it be better to fatten you up first? I'm not a fan of stringy cuts" Chie suggested suggestively.

"Whoa, um, what are you talking about?" Yang questioned.

"You..." Chie smiled, causing Yang to flinch with her blushing.

"Eat her? Is she tasty?" Nora asked.

"Nora, STOP! You're not making this situation any better!" Jaune exclaimed, still leaving her confused.

"Whoa, whoa, you want to eat me? Hey, that's drawing the line between our sexual orientation!" Yang crossed her arms, covering her chest. "Why would you even wanna swing that way!?"

"The reason I wan to eat meat? BECAUSE IT'S THERE!" Chie pointed out as she flex her muscles, referring the meat on the human body.

Yang: "Huh...?"

"Wait a minute, Yang, she isn't being sexual, she just referring to the meat." Weiss realized, giving Yang a sigh of relief.

"Wouldn't that still be cannibalism?" Blake mentioned, which Yang's fears spike back up.

"Yang-chan... don't worry. It'll be painless." Chie assured lewdly.

"Oh, hell no! There's no way it'll be painless!" Yang retorted stepping back with her arms up.

"You'll continue to live inside me forever! Persona!" Shouted as she summons Tomoe lunging in on Yang with its windmill blade

 ***Like The Dragon**

"Yeah, in your stomach! Ifreeta!" Yang retaliated by summoning her Persona, charging back at her, stopping Tomoe in its place.

Yang was so focus on the clashing Personas she soon realized Chie dropping down above her with an axe-kick. "Thanks for the food!" Chie exclaimed with excitement with drool coming out of her mouth.

Yang evades the strike and counters with a pair of jabs to Chie's head as she pulls a backflip-kick with Tomoe casting **Bufula** , forming a ice pillar between them as Chie punts the pillar at Yang, forcing her back into a wall and trapping her between the ice block and the wall as Yang grunted in pain

"Yang!" Ruby cried out.

"Wow! Yang-chan was all hyped up with rage, but now she's hard pressed! C'mon! Show us more of your angry face!" Rise boasted.

"Rise!" The Beacon student exclaimed, refusing to believe what Rise just said.

Yang was struggling o break out from the trap, Chie was standing on top of the ice pillar, looking down on her. "Why are being so stingy, Yang-chan, isn't this what you guys always wanted?"

"What we want?" Yang repeated.

"The joy of beating your enemies to a pulp, breaking their bones, imagine the thrill!" Chie laughed out loud.

"Tch...!" Yang clicked her tongue. "What about you? Didn't you always said you wanted to fight to protect civilians?"

"As if!" Chie exclaimed very haughty. "Can you imagine all the meat I can find all over Remnant? I fight so I can eat'em all! Starting with YOU!" She summons Tomoe as the Persona readies its windmill blade.

Yang flinches as she continues to struggle free until Tomoe lunges its weapon at Yang's face in front of everyone's eyes.

"Yang, NO!" They scream as they soon realized that the blade missed her head.

"This is SO not you!" Yang growled as she grabs on the the blade and forcefully pulls the windmill blade away while having Ifreeta kicking the Persona from the other flank. Ifreeta then cast **Tarukaja** on Yang as she then pushes Chie and the ice pillar away from her, free from the jam she was in.

"Oh, this is totally me, all right." Chie reassured with smacking her lips. "You so wanna eat me as well right?"

"Ugh, gods, NO!" Yang exclaimed in disgust.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how feel about this..." Jaune said, feeling conflicted.

"Let's just tone it out..." Ren reassured.

"Don't be so modest Yang-chan, I feel so happy...!" Chie eyes lit up. "'Cause the fresher you are the more delicious you taste, am I right?!" She charge at the disgusted Yang as she swung her kick at her until Yang caught her by the ankle.

"You're so sick!" Yang stated as she parries Chie off her stance followed by punching her in the face. _"Yeah, that's definitely not like Chie..."_ She thought.

 _"You know, you're gonna end up dead if you keep that up."_ Rise warned with a sinister grin, as Yang responded by shooting a firebolt at the TV without looking, shattering the screen.

"This is really pissing me off...!" Yang grunted. "Sorry Chie, but bring it on!" She exclaimed, engaging her senior. Chie charged and Yang as well, launching into the air and slamming her attack downward. Yang evade once more as Chie broke the pavement. Yang went for another pair of jabs but Chie spun around with a spin-kick, followed by trading punches as they block each others attack.

"You don't have be so difficult, Yang-chan, just surrender and let me eat ya!" Chie suggested.

"Like hell! I get that you love meat, but I refuse to get eaten by anything!" Yang retorted, pushing Chie out of a deadlock.

"Heh, You that like you haven't ate any meat before like some herbivore." Chie chuckled as she swings her legs, her weapon, to create a vacuum wave made of ice.

"What are talking about!?" Yang questioned as she dodges the attack. "Just because you eat nothing but meat doesn't mean that I don't-"

Yet Chie closed the distance and slammed her knee into Yang's chest as she stumble back as she clenched her chest. "If you say that makes me a carnivore, could I be more greedy?"

"What are you taking about?" Yang questioned.

"You can do so much outside Japan, I'm jealous! You can use your weapons and Persona as much as you want there and here." Chie stated with glee as she glares upon Chie while hammering Yang with another Axe-kick. "Hey! If you eat me, maybe you'll get stronger...!" She suggested with a sinister smile.

"Oh, like hell! You're sick!" Yang exclaimed in frustration.

"Oh yeah, I thought so!" Chie laughed menacingly. "You're just another sheep that goes along where your baby sister goes. Isn't that proof enough the you're an herbivore.

Yang's eyes opened wide with her eyes glowing red again. "RUBY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT!" Yang roared as she swung a firebolt at Chie, missing her as she didn't move from her spot. Surprise as Yang was, she was struck by Chie's rising kick to her chin, pushing her back even more.

 _"Uh oh... Has Chie-senpai's bitter "verbal attack" hit Yang-chan severely?!"_ Rise wondered as her image appeared on another TV screen nearby.

"Yang..." Ruby muttered with worry, watching Yang writhed in pain from the attack.

"Hehehehehehehe... In the end you don't exactly have a lot of redeeming qualities at all do you, Yang-chan?" Chie wondered, looking down at Yang.

"Wh-What did you say?!" Yang questioned, glaring back at Chie.

"In other words, you're weak." Chie simply stated. "You may have your semblance and Persona, but that won't even be enough to surpass and restrictions. It's only natural for the weak to eaten by the strong! Survival of the fittest! Those are the rules of nature! And herbivores like you, make delicious meals!" Chie posed as she summoned Tomoe.

Yang grits her teeth as she soon realizes a giant fist above them. "Thanks for the meal!" Chie salutes as she drops the God's Hand.

"Not like this!" Yang exclaims as she roars as she reacts. The God's Hand slams into the floor as the dust cloud erupts, even Chie covers herself from the blast.

"Yang!" The Beacon Students shouted in horror.

 _"Chie-senpai overwhelmed her! Did that decide the match?!"_ Rise wondered.

Chie grinned with confidence as victory may be in her hand, but so realized that Ifreeta took on the blow of God's Hand as they see Yang above the fist.

"Nice try." Yang stated as she Power Charged herself. "Now eat this!" She propelled herself at Chie with the full might of the Ember Celica firing at the opposite direction from Chie. It was a head-on collision as Yang slammed her fist into Chie's face, a **Power Charge** d **Black Spot** , as it slammed Chie into the ground and dragged her back from its force of impact.

"Whoa... Yang?" Ruby stuttered with surprise.

While Yang still had her fist on Chie, she retracted her arm as she felt like crying. She slowly got off of her and Chie came to afterwards as she groaned in pain. "You really gotta stop comparing me to others... You should know that much..." She exclaimed to Chie as she stood back up backed away.

 _"Huh!? Chie senpai is down!?"_ Rise gasped. _"Amazing Yang-kun! You nailed her real good! Victory!"_ She cheered despite the bitter atmosphere in the area.

As the invisible wall disappeared, the Beacon Students rallied toward Yang. "You okay, Sis?" Ruby asked as she pat her sister's shoulders.

Yang nodded as Chie started to get back up. "Oww..." She groaned as she sat up on her knees.

"I hope you get it through your thick skull... about attacking your friends." Yang warned with a mix of anger and sadness.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Chie questioned as they see her wiping her tears. "First you guys insult me, then you kick my ass... Ugh! You bully!" She exclaimed.

"... Insult you?" Blake wondered.

"You guys went on and on about how I'm a coward and a brat! I'm you upperclassman!" Chie stated furiously.

"When did we had time to say that!? You were trying to eat Yang!" Weiss pointed out.

"Huuuh!? Chie questioned and looked to Yang, followed by blushing and covering her chest. "Th-that had better no be some sexual innuendo or something, what am I, Kanji-kun!?""

"That wasn't a sexual-something! Grraaaaghhh! I don't even know what we were doing!" Yang roared in confusion.

"Wait, what about Kanji?" Jaune repeated as they realizes something like this happened not too long ago. "Is this the part were we didn't hear what you actually said?" He asked.

"Oh boy, where to begin..." Ruby sighed. While they calm Chie down, the Beacon Students explained their predicament and Kanji's location.

"Kanji-kun's here!? We were wondering where he was!" Chie realized. Although, he didn't say how got here, huh?" She guessed as they nodded yes.

Soon as the conversation went quiet, a TV screen flickered and revealed Teddie once more. "Aren't you guys done fighting yet?" He questioned exasperatedly.

"We're already done! Are still not telling us what's going on?" Ruby questioned.

"Hmhmhm... If you want answers then continue the matches! I am still waiting at the end!" Teddie declared as the screen went static.

"That Teddie seems to be enjoying this too much..." Pyrrha commented.

"And so the only way to release us from this invisible walls is for someone to bat the tournament. That's so lame!" Chie groaned. "I could really use some beefskewers right now..."

"We'll make sure to end this quick." Yang assured as she recalls something. "Oh right, we saw that the student council president is here.

"The Student Council President? What's he doing here?" Chie asked.

"He? It was a girl. She had a ponytail and a girls uniform." Weiss identified.

"Huh? We must be talking about different people, I'm pretty sure our president is a guy." Chie reassured. "If you guys are in Inaba, surely you guys dropped by the school and met him right?" She mentioned.

"We... We actually did!" Ruby realized.

"He was the one who asked us to find you guys." Nora added.

"If that's true, then is she lying about being the student council president?" Ren wondered.

"I don't know... but I'm positive she's not the real president. And isn't is suspicious that she's inside the TV?" Chie assumed.

"True. She said she was going to this 'Announcement Room'. Do you know that place?" Blake mentioned.

"Sure. But if this is the TV world, I bet it'll be slightly difficult to find..." Chie answered as she told them the direction to where the Announcement room would be in the real Yasogami High School. "I wonder if she's a victim in all this and Teddie's messing around.

"If that's the case we really have to hurry. We'll come back for you guys." Yang assured as the Beacon Students left Chie.

"Yang-chan! Make you keep your cool in a heated moment... of course you'd already know that." Chie suggested.

"I'll keep that in mind!" Yang assured as they race towards the Announcement Room.

* * *

 **A/N: All right, we got two down now for the next batch!**

 **I got an idea for the next pair to go, but now I'm stuck with Nora having to face her Shadow. Should I make her isolated for her Shadow to go berserk or make it simple like have her friends keep her cool so she'll b able to use her Persona against one of the Investigation Team? Whether she faces her Shadow or not, she will have to hold her share. And yes, I already have a title for her.**

 **I'm guessing you all saw that P5R trailer. If I add Kasumi, I'll make it like Ruby recalling a slight detour in chasing Joker. It was a beautiful dance we saw.**

 **Omake skit time!**

* * *

Investigation Team Nightmares - Boys room

During the night the the boys room, the guys were sleeping peacefully until they stated to shuffle in their sleep random.

Kanji's is where he discovers vivid images of Rise and Naoto stabbing Teddie as he sat on bench in front of a piano as each stabs rung the piano keys.

"H-holy shit...!" Kanji stuttered as the girls stared at him with insane looks in their eyes.

"If we kill you we will be with Senpai!" Rise exclaimed insanely.

"I'm sorry Kanji-kun, this is for Senpai." Naoto declared as they readied their bloody knives as they closed the distance to Kanji.

"No, No, NOOOOO!" Kanji screamed, in the reality he was shaking violently from the nightmare. "Too many stabs... not... worth it...!" Kanji stuttered in his sleep.

In Teddie's dream, he was hand scrubbing the floor at Junes when a evil-looking Yosuke was looking down on him. "To slow, Ted! You're getting over time!" He declared.

"What!? How can this be!" Teddie gasped.

"You'll never see the light of day! Never!" Yosuke laughed out loud.

Teddie was crying while sleeping. "Too... much... labor!" He cried.

In Yu's dream he was sitting down on a chair while in a blank white space all around him. "So empty..." Yu's voice echoed. "Nothingness..." His voice echoed once more. He came to realized that this empty space is not the place for him.

The next morning the tired Yosuke found the guys sitting at the cafeteria looking exhausted. "Let me guess... Nightmares." He guess as the guys nodded yes.

"How'd go for you Senpai?" Kanji asked, yawning afterwards.

"Chie and Weissy-chan were berating me. Nothing too important." Yosuke answered.

"What? That's the best dream anyone would get! I'm beary jealous..." Teddie denied.

"How is that the best? It was nightmare!" Yosuke denied.

"I guess it really is nothing to note." Yu agreed.

* * *

The thing about Yosuke's nightmare. It isn't important at all.

* * *

 ***Break Out Of... - Shoji Meguro**

 ***A Pure-Hearted Beast -** **Shoji Meguro**

 ***Like The Dragon - Shoji Meguro**


End file.
